Madras High Court dismisses a request to set a limit on the number of lawyers who can accompany VIPs to court, stating there is no law that restricts the number of people allowed in court.

The Madras High Court has rejected a writ petition that aimed to limit the number of lawyers who can accompany VIP or VVIP litigants in lower courts. The Division Bench, led by Chief Justice KR Shriram and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, noted that there is currently no legal rule that restricts the number of advocates who can appear with a litigant. The Bench remarked, “The admitted position is that there is no enactment at present which fixes the number of persons who can appear on behalf of or accompany a party to Court.” As a result, the Court concluded that it could not instruct the Registrar General to impose such limits and dismissed the petition.

The Bench added, “In the absence of a public duty on the first respondent to impose restrictions with regard to the number of advocates appearing for or accompanying VIPs/VVIPs, the petitioner is not entitled to a mandamus as prayed for.” The Court then stated, “For the reasons aforesaid, W.P.No.22971 of 2023 is dismissed without any order as to costs. W.M.P.No. 25069 of 2023 stands closed.” The writ petition was filed by Advocate N Mahendra Babu, who claimed he submitted this petition after making a request on July 17, 2023, to the Registrar General to create rules limiting the number of advocates for VIPs/VVIPs.

Cause Title: N Mahendra Babu v. The Registrar General and Others [W.P. No. 22971 of 2023]