Judges, Bar attempt truce in SC

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 14

After a stormy Friday, it was a hectic Sunday for the Bar and the Bench as judges and Bar leaders in the capital held parleys until late evening to get over the crisis created by a judicial mutiny by the four seniormost judges of the Supreme Court against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.

As decided in its emergency meeting on Saturday, a seven-member delegation of Bar Council of India (BCI), led by chairman Manan Kumar Mishra, met the CJI and several other judges in an attempt to find an amicable solution to the problem. The BCI maintained that the issue should not be politicised. Mishra could not be reached for his comments.

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Supreme Court Bar Association president Vikas Singh met the CJI and gave him a copy of a resolution passed in an emergency meeting of its executive committee.

“The CJI has told us that he would try to ensure congeniality in the Supreme Court at the earliest,” Singh told The Tribune after meeting the CJI. In a resolution adopted on Saturday, the SCBA executive committee had said all issues raised by the four seniormost judges be discussed in a Full Court i.e. all the judges of the Supreme Court. It had also resolved that all PIL matters, including those listed on January 15, should be heard by the CJI or other top four judges.. 

In an unprecedented move, Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, MB Lokur and Kurian Joseph had on Friday left their pre-lunch judicial work mid-way and assembled at Justice Chelameswar’s residence for the press conference at 12.15 pm. The situation in the Supreme Court was “not in order” and many “less than desirable” things had taken place in the last few months, they had said. 

On Sunday, two Supreme Court judges — Justices SA Bobde and LN Rao — reportedly met Justice Chelameswar, sources said.

Justice Gogoi had on Saturday said “there is no crisis” while Justice Jospeh had said that there was no need for an outside intervention.

Meanwhile, four retired judges wrote an open letter to CJI Misra expressing their agreement with the issues raised by the four apex court judges over allocation of cases. They said the crisis needed to be resolved “within the judiciary”.

The letter by former SC judge PB Sawant, former Delhi High Court Chief Justice AP Shah, former Madras High Court judge K Chandru and former Bombay High Court judge H Suresh was released to the media.

Coordination Committee of All Delhi Bar Associations said the CJI should have kept his house in order and the grievances of the four senior judges should have been addressed immediately.

However, it condemned the act of the four senior judges, saying they should not have brought the internal matters of the judiciary in public domain.

Was suspicious about death, no longer: Loya son

Mumbai: The son of special CBI judge BH Loya on Sunday said he had earlier been suspicious about his father’s sudden death, but now no longer harboured doubts. Anuj Loya, 21, said he did not have any doubts about the way his father died three years ago. Judge Loya, who was hearing the sensitive Sohrabuddin Sheikh “fake encounter” case, had allegedly died of a cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014, when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague’s daughter. He also urged NGOs and politicians to stop “harassing” his family. PTI

Hectic Sunday in capital

• BCI’s seven-member delegation led by its chairman Manan Mishra meets CJI and several judges
• SCBA president Vikas Singh meets Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, who assures, “I will try to ensure congeniality in Supreme Court at the earliest.”
• Judges hold informal parleys among themselves to bring things under control
• SC judges SA Bobde, LN Rao reportedly meet Justice J Chelameswar, who led the revolt against CJI Dipak Misra
• Four retired judges write to CJI expressing support for issues raised by four SC judges; say crisis needs to be resolved within judiciary
• Coordination Committee of All Delhi Bar Associations condemns four SC judges for going public