Four senior-most Supreme Court judges, who had held an unprecedented press conference and raised issue of assignment of cases against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, on Monday attended court and took up routine work. The four judges - justices J. Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B. Lokur and Kurian Joseph - have taken up their respective business on the first working day of the top court after the 12 January press conference.
Attorney General K K Venugopal said the issue has been settled. “Now everything has been settled. The courts are functioning. It was a storm in a tea cup,” Venugopal said. In the presser, these judges had flagged some problems, including the assigning of cases in the apex court, and said there were certain issues afflicting the country’s highest court.
On Sunday, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra had met a seven-member delegation of the Bar Council of India and Supreme Court Bar Association President Vikas Singh and had assured them that the crisis would be sorted out soon and congeniality would prevail.
The four judges held a press conference on the lawns of Chelameswar’s bungalow on Tughlaq Road, barely 200 metres from the CJI’s residence on Krishna Menon Marg.
They alleged serious infirmities and irregularities in administration and assigning of cases for hearing to benches in the SC. The judges, who have traditionally been camera-shy, said they were forced to hold the PC, a first, because a letter they had sent to the CJI two months ago pointing out mistakes had gone unanswered.
“We tried to persuade the CJI that certain things are not in order. Unfortunately, the efforts failed. We are convinced that unless corrective steps are taken immediately, the judiciary will lose its strong and independent tag, an essential hallmark of a vibrant democracy,” Chelameswar said, taking the lead in the PC.
Referring to the letter sent to the CJI signed by the four judges, he said, “We wanted a particular thing in a particular manner. That thing was done, but that raised further questions about the integrity of the institution. Today also, we went to meet the CJI and pointed out that a particular thing was not in order and requested him to rectify it. Despite senior most colleagues requesting him to correct the anomaly, he was not amenable to correct it.”
The matter immediately took on a political dimension with Congress president Rahul Gandhi seizing upon the development to demand a probe into Loya’s death. CPI leader D Raja called on Chelameswar, who had earlier taken issue with two previous CJIs — Justices T S Thakur and J S Khehar.
Senior advocate Indira Jaising was present at the PC and wanted to know what was happening inside the sanctum sanctorum of the apex court, but journalists shouted her down and prevented her from asking questions, saying the PC was meant for media and not advocates.
