E-Paper
CJI Dipak Misra reaches out, meets 4 dissenting Supreme Court judges
Last week, four Supreme Court judges — Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, MB Lokur and Kurian Joseph — publicly criticised CJI Dipak Misra and raised concerns over allocation of cases.
The four Supreme Court judges who publicly criticised the Chief Justice of India at a press conference last week met Dipak Misra on Tuesday in his chambers in a bid to resolve the rift between them.
The meeting, sources said, was called by Chief justice Misra in his Supreme Court chamber at 10.10 am.
It remained inconclusive, and the top five judges are expected to meet again on Wednesday to tide over the crisis, a first in the court’s 68-year history.
Last week, four seniormost Supreme Court judges — Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, MB Lokur and Kurian Joseph — expressed their unhappiness about the functioning of the top court and raised concerns over the allocation of cases, warning a lack of impartiality could imperil India’s democracy.
The judges complained that “administration of Supreme Court is not in order and there have been things less than desirable that have happened in the court”.
The Chief Justice, the four judges claimed, was abusing his position as the ‘master of the roster’ and assigning cases with far-reaching consequences for the nation and the institution selectively to benches “of his preference” without any rationale.
“This must be guarded against at all costs,” the judges said.
Since the Friday press conference, there have been efforts by sitting judges and advocate bodies to mediate a solution to the crisis.
The Bar Council of India, the apex regulatory body for advocates in the country, had set up a seven-member delegation and met Chief Justice Misra and 14 other judges of the top court on Sunday.
The Supreme Court Bar Association too pitched in with efforts and its president Vikas Singh met the Chief Justice of India and other judges.
