In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court on Friday held that lawyers cannot be summoned in criminal cases for questioning by investigating agencies. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India BR Gavai, Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice NV Anjaria pronounced the decision in the suo motu case taken by the Court over the issue of investigating agencies arbitrarily summoning advocates representing accused.

The top court held that while lawyers are not immune from investigation, a distinction must be maintained between professional legal advice, which is protected, and instances where a lawyer may be involved in criminal conduct. According to the Live Law.in, The Court refrained from issuing any guidelines and ruled out the need for Magisterial supervision before the issuance of summons, i

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