New Delhi: Anguished over summons to advocates in a case where they appear as defence counsels, the Supreme Court underlined Friday that investigating agencies cannot arbitrarily seek the presence of lawyers to further their probe.

A Chief Justice B.R. Gavai-led bench also issued guidelines to ensure that the lawyer-client privilege is not breached during a criminal investigation.

Advocates cannot be questioned about the legal advice they gave to the accused, the three-judge bench said. Formulating the constitutional framework—the basis of lawyer-client relationships—the bench issued regulations for lawyers’ submission of documents and digital devices that might contain client information. The bench, also comprising justices Vinod Chandran and N.V. Anjaria, however, refused to constitut

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