Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on July 25 sharply criticised senior advocates in the Karnataka political crisis case, saying they did not think twice before waking up the Supreme Court at midnight for an urgent hearing, but chose not to appear when the court, in turn, sought their presence in the long-drawn, roller-coaster dispute which finally saw the fall of the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government led by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.

The Chief Justice’s caustic remarks about the conduct of the senior advocates was triggered by what happened in the court on July 24. A day after the holding of the long-awaited trust vote in the Karnataka Assembly on July 23, a plea was made by an advocate for permission to withdraw the case. The case pertained to an application made by two independent MLAs last week for conduct of the trust vote without delay. The counsel, who appeared for the legislators, submitted before the CJI Bench that their application had become infructuous as the vote had already been held.

However, the CJI asked why none of the senior advocates such as Mukul Rohatgi or A.M. Singhvi, who had been leading the arguments in the case all along, chose not to come and seek the court’s permission to withdraw. After all, the Bench said, the court had patiently heard them and passed interim orders over the past several weeks in the case. The court had then refused to pass orders on July 24.

“When you want an urgent listing, you come before us — night, day or midnight. But when the court wants a counsel, you all choose not to appear,” Chief Justice Gogoi said on July 25 when the case came up.

The “midnight” hearing referred to by the CJI was one which was held in 2018. That hearing had led to a floor test which propelled the Kumaraswamy government into power.

Mr. Singhvi, who represented the Karnataka Speaker, appeared during morning’s mentioning hour on July 25 before the CJI Bench and managed to excuse himself from coming later in the day when the case was called for hearing. He is on his legs in another court.

Mr. Rohatgi, who appeared for both the rebel and independent Karnataka MLAs in the case, was not present. Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, who appeared for Mr. Kumaraswamy in the case, was, however, present.

“My Lord is embarrassing us,” Mr. Dhavan reacted to the CJI’s words.

“It is meant to be embarrassing...” Chief Justice Gogoi replied sternly.

The court finally allowed the plea for the withdrawal of the case.

The MLAs, R. Shankar and H. Nagesh, represented by advocate Diksha Rai, had approached the Supreme Court last week against the delay in conducting the trust vote. They had complained that the “minority” Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government was taking frenzied executive decisions such as transferring the police officers, IAS officers and other key officials.