Congress Party spokesperson and senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi hosted a dinner for the upper echelons of the legal fraternity in Delhi on Saturday night. Found wining and dining at the seemingly non-descript but ultra-high profile occasion were judges of the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court, senior advocates and well-connected lawyers from the Delhi-Bombay Bar.

Significantly Jayant Bhushan, a senior lawyer in his own right, attended the dinner but the absence of his brother, Prashant and father Shanthi Bhushan (the former law minister) did not go unnoticed. Prashant and Shanti Bhushan are integral members of Team Anna of course, which is in stormy negotiations with a Parliamentary committee presiding over the Lokpal Bill headed by Congress’ Singhvi.

Law minister Salman Khursheed’s interaction with Supreme Court judge Asok Kumar Ganguly, who is the junior member of the bench hearing the 2G case, raised some eyebrows too.

2G or not 2G

Khursheed recently issued an opinion from his ministry on the definition of ‘associate’ companies - a move that bolsters the prospects of chargesheeted Reliance, Swan and their executives in the on-going criminal case before a trial court.

Ganguly along with his brother judge GS Singhvi had obliquely referred to the law ministry’s opinion last week during a hearing in the Supreme Court, saying that such interventions from government departments were “not appropriate”.

And so, with this as a backdrop on everybody’s mind, Khursheed and Ganguly sat together at a table and those assembled could only wonder what they spoke about.

Absent friends

All the other usual suspects were present, except of course members of the anti-Singhvi camp that includes the BJP’s Arun Jaitley and Congress’s Manish Tiwari.

Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati and Solicitor General Rohinton Nariman were absent, although the senior Nariman (Fali) made an early entry and exit. Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi, Harish Salve, Rajiv Nayar, Gopal Subramanium and C. S. Sundaram did not attend.

Collegiate

Discussions on the controversial issue of judicial appointments and the collegium system, which is so strongly defended by the higher judiciary, were heard from various corners of the room.

This is not surprising since AM Singhvi’s parliamentary committee is also presiding over the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, which contains a recommendation to create a National Judicial Commission for the appointment of judges.

Another chapter in the constitutional war between Parliament and the Supreme Court might be in the offing if the government reclaims its right to preside over judicial appointments.

Watch this space.

Supreme Court Insider knows his way around the Supreme Court corridors like few others. Insider’s apex court colleague is Court Witness tweeting at @courtwitness1 and whose recent postcards include:

• The circus has left town: Any given Katju day, Court Witnessed
• Judging new judges, the bar’s insane expectations and those larger than life
• I hate you (like I love you) or the torrid love between journalists and the 30-headed Supreme Court hydra
• How advocates are countries, and the lost souls of litigation
• From Gopal to Rohinton - A tale of two SGs
• SH Kapadia mid-term appraisal: Crying Room Hercules cleans SC stables after dirty decades, only half-done
• Justice ‘Goldilocks’ Reddy should be sorely missed, not misrepresented

Photo by Ludovico Sinz