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                                                                        admitted  a petition seeking a probe
                                                                        into the death of B H Loya who, as a
                                                                        special judge, was hearing the “fake
                                                                        encounter  killing”  case.  As  if  the
                  The Rift within the                                   presser by  the  four judges  was  not
                                                                        enough, they also made public a seven-
                                                                        page letter to the CJI.
                       Supreme Court                                      The letter, first sent to the CJI a
                                                                        couple of months ago, said “It is with
                                                                        great anguish and concern that we have
       What is more worrying is that it is the CJI and the four judges who make up  thought it proper to address this letter
       the Supreme Court collegium that selects judges for the higher judiciary  to you so as to highlight certain judicial
                                              —By  Pallab  Bhattacharya  orders passed by this court which has
                                                                        adversely  affected  the  overall
                                                                        functioning of the  justice delivering
       The unprecedented public show of rift  in a medical scam was mentioned for
                                                                        system and the independence of the
       within  India’s  highest  judiciary—the  urgent hearing before a bench headed
                                                                        high  courts  besides  impacting  the
       hallowed Supreme  Court—following  by Justice Chelameshwar in December
                                                                        administrative functioning of the office
       the questioning by four senior judges  last year. In November last year, the
       of the apex court against the country’s  CJI had in an order declared that the  of the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India.”
       chief  justice  Dipak  Misra  over                                 The letter said that there have been
                                                                        instances  where  cases  having  “far
       allotment of cases and certain judicial
       orders  has  plunged  the  jurists  and   In Brief               reaching consequences for the nation”
       politics  of  the  world’s  largest   The public show of rift within  and the institution have been assigned
       democracy  into a never-before-seen  India’s highest judiciary was  by  the  chief  justices  of  this  court
       turmoil.                                                         “selectively  to  the benches ‘of  their
       THE  UPS  AND  DOWNS  IN  THE        unprecedented.              preference’  without  any  rationale
       JUDICIARY                          This  was  in  form  of    the  basis” for such assignment. “This must
                                            questioning  by  four  senior  be guarded against at all costs.”
       The reason is simple. Over decades,
                                            judges  of  the  apex  court  THE LONG-TERM IMPACT
       the Supreme Court has often set the
       agenda on matters of public policy and  against the CJI.         The  media  conference  by  the  four
       orders measures taken in the public   This episode has plunged the  judges  and  their making public  the
       interest.  The  apex  court  has  often  jurists  and  politics  of  the  letter underlined one thing clearly: the
                                                                        simmering differences between the
       stepped in to set right things which the  world’s  largest  democracy
       executive should have  ideally  done.  into  a  never-before-seen  country’s top judge and some senior
       This,  as  a  result,  has  also  raised  turmoil.               judges in  the   apex court  in  recent
       concerns, particularly from politician,                          months.The  four  judges  accused
                                          The political slugfest over the  Justice  Misra  of  not  taking  any
       over  what  was  termed  as  “judicial  rift in the apex judiciary has
       activism.”                                                       “remedial measures” on some of the
                                            already begun.              issues which affected the functioning
          While  differences  between  a
                                          The  criticism  by  the  four  of the apex court that they had raised.
       government of the day and the highest
                                            judges  indicated  that  not  The criticism by the four judges of
       judiciary  is  nothing  new,  especially
       over  appointment  of  judges  to  the  all  is  well  in  the  SC  Justice  Misra  was  very  sharp  and
       higher courts, this was the first time  administration.          indicated  that  not  all  is  well  in  the
       that such public spectacle of rift within                        Supreme Court administration. What
                                                                        is more worrying is that it is the CJI
       the apex court was seen. The near-unity
                                                                        and the four judges who make up the
       seen in the apex court in the standoff  chief justice “is the master of the roster”
                                                                        Supreme Court collegium that selects
       with the government over appointment  having exclusive power to decide which
                                                                        judges for the higher judiciary. The main
       of judges to higher courts clearly lies  case will go to which judge.
                                                                        issue  now  is  how  to  resolve  the
       in disarray today. The standoff between  However, the immediate trigger for
       the four judges Justice Ranjan Gogoi,  the stunning press conference by the  standoff  within  the  country’s  top
                                                                        judiciary? The BJP-led government at
       Justice  Madan  Bhimrao  Lokur  and  four senior-most judges was Justice
                                                                        the Centre made it clear it is not going
       Justice  Kurian  Joseph  and  Justice  Misra’s turning down a plea for shifting
                                                                        to intervene and said the judiciary will
       Misra was the culmination of simmering  a politically-sensitive case relating to
                                                                        resolve the issue itself. “Our judiciary
       differences for quite some time.  the “fake (police) encounter” killing of
                                                                        is  reputed  all  over  the  world,
          The first major point of rift came  gangster  Sheikh  Sohrabuddin  in
       out in  public when  a  public interest  Gujarat to a bench of his choice. On
       litigation alleging judges’ involvement  January 11,  the  CJI-led bench had  (Contd on page 27)
       March 2018                                                                  Competition  Wizard  25
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