NEW DELHI: The National Human Rights Commission, which had intervened in the Supreme Court in favour of the Rohingya refugees from Myanmar , has withdrawn senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan from representing the statutory body in the case. At the last hearing of the case, the NHRC was represented by a junior lawyer, even as Dhavan appeared for an individual.Both Dhavan and a source at the NHRC underplayed the issue. “All clients are permitted to withdraw their counsel,” Dhavan told the ET.It is usual for the NHRC to engage senior counsels for a specific day to argue its case in the top court and it may call Dhavan back to appear in the Rohingya issue if required at a later point, the NHRC source said.Dhavan blamed what he termed as “circumstances” for his removal as NHRC’s counsel in the case.“In the past I have appeared for the NHRC in various cases and written opinions for NHRC. I support NHRC and I want to keep the NHRC out of controversy,” he said.The first hearing of the case was marked by a heated exchange of words between Dhavan and the government’s law officer. ASG Tushar Mehta argued the issue of allowing Rohingyas to stay on or sending them back was a policy decision to be made by the government, and it wasn’t justiciable or maintainable in court.Dhavan said the law officer did not understand the legal difference between migrants (those who come on their own volition into a country in search of better economic prospects) and refugees (who flee persecution in their home country to save their life and liberty). Mehta protested against the remarks, prompting the top court to intervene to calm things down.Dhavan has since been instructed not to appear for NHRC any more, sources said. NHRC is usually represented by senior advocate Gopal Subramanium in SC in all important cases, NHRC source said.“He was unavailable, so Dhavan was asked to appear in the case,” the source said, adding: “There’s no logic to presume that once a senior counsel appears in a case, he would keep appearing in it.”