The Delhi High Court has approved 85 lawyers for senior advocate designation following a full court meeting on Thursday evening. This comes after a Supreme Court order to review earlier rejections from 2024.
The designations include ED special counsel Zoheb Hossain, former ED special counsel Nitesh Rana, Delhi government standing counsel Sanjay Lao and special public prosecutor Amit Prasad, who represents Delhi Police in the 2020 North East Delhi riot cases. Ten women were also selected, among them Manali Singhal.
The move follows a Supreme Court direction issued on April 15, 2025, which asked the High Court to reconsider candidates deferred or rejected in 2024. That earlier process had designated 70 advocates while deferring 67 and rejecting 165.
Interviews this time were conducted one-on-one starting April 28, with each candidate questioned individually for five to 15 minutes. The committee was led by Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and included two senior judges along with bar representatives.
Dissent was recorded against one of the 86 names considered. The fresh list adds to the 70 seniors named in 2024.