India, May 13 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a fresh set of guidelines, discarding the existing marking-based evaluation system in the process to designate senior advocates.

The marking-based assessment system was introduced through the landmark Indira Jaising judgments in 2017 and 2023.

A special bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka, Ujjal Bhuyan, and SVN Bhatti held that the existing framework, which awards marks for categories such as years of practice, reported judgments, publications, and interviews, will no longer apply to future designations. The Court stressed the need for diversity and representation, particularly of advocates practising in trial courts, and said that new rules must be framed accordingly.

The court ha...