Chief Justice Dipak Misra will meet with the four senior-most justices of the Supreme Court on Monday, 29 January, in an attempt to address the Justices’ concerns and resolve a range of issues the four raised at a press conference on 12 January, the Indian Express reported.
Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Jasti Chelameswar, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Madan B Lokur, and Justice Kurian Joseph together form the Collegium, the highest decision-making body in the Indian Judiciary. The justices met last week in a meeting that included the five, along with Supreme Court Justices AK Sikri, Justice DY Chandrachud, and Justice UU Lalit.
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The situation came to a head after the four Justices wrote a letter to the Chief Justice raising concerns about the functioning of the country’s highest court, and decisions that it had made, including the assignment of important cases which the letter stated, “adversely affected the overall functioning of the justice delivery system.”
Talking about the assignment of cases, the letter scathingly adds:
There have been instances where case having far-reaching consequences for the Nation and the institution had been assigned by the Chief Justice of this court selectively to the benches “of their preference” without any rational basis for such assignment. This must be guarded against at all costs.Excerpt from letter
Indian Express cited sources as stating that the problems in the Supreme Court’s functioning as well as the approach to resolve the issues proposed by the four senior-most judges require systemic changes, and would take more time and dialogue. The meetings being held were simply to “give an impression that matters are being resolved and that things are better now,” the Indian Express report added, citing sources.
(With inputs from Indian Express)
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