The Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (SCAORA) has issued a strong condemnation of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after it summoned Senior Advocate Arvind P. Datar over a legal opinion given to a client—an action that was later withdrawn. The bar body decried the move as coercive, warning it “threatens the independence of the legal profession” and undermines public confidence in the judicial system. They emphasized that lawyers should not be penalized for fulfilling their professional duties and that such actions could chill the right to counsel and erode the foundations of the rule of law.

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