SC crisis: Chief Justice Dipak Misra meets four dissenting judges
After days of stalemate, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra held a meeting with the four senior-most judges: Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph. The meeting lasted for about 10-15 minutes and no other judge was present. They couldn't meet yesterday as Justice Chelameswar wasn't attending court. So, what are the judges discussing now? Here are the details.
What was the stalemate among the judges?
On January 12, SC's four senior-most judges had raised various problems plaguing the top court. This included assigning of cases and SC's overall administration by CJI. Further, they claimed CJI uses his "master of roster" as a veto, when it actually means "first among equals." They said the judiciary as an institution is in danger and asked the nation to "save" it.
Now, what efforts are being made to break the impasse?
After the presser, efforts were made to end the rift. The dissenting judges and CJI met over tea for 15 minutes on Tuesday morning. This meeting was facilitated by Justices AK Sikri, SA Bobde and UU Lalit. However, the meeting was inconclusive necessitating another discussion.
What is the status now?
Apparently, SC judges have finalized a proposal dealing with a "rational, orderly and transparent system" for allocating cases to different benches. Presently, benches are "selected" depending on their expertise. So, some judges regularly dealing with criminal matters are expected to get criminal cases. Now, SC judges are batting for random allocation. This will take away the allegation of "selecting" a particular bench.
