Supreme Court crisis has been laid to rest, says Bar Council
Chairman of the Bar Council of India (BCI) Manan Mishra says that the matter had been laid to rest and the court was back to functioning as before
New Delhi: Judges of the Supreme Court seem to have called a truce on grievances aired by the four senior-most judges against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, forestalling any political consequences to the episode.
“There are no differences, everything has been settled," attorney general K.K. Venugopal told journalists on Monday. He had earlier said that the four senior judges’ act of going public with their grievances against the CJI could have been avoided.
Chairman of the Bar Council of India (BCI) Manan Mishra said that the matter had been laid to rest and the court was back to functioning as before.
In an unprecedented move, justices J. Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B. Lokur and Kurian Joseph alleged on Friday that the CJI was not following established precedents in allocation of cases among the judges. Consequently, they argued, this was “adversely" affecting the justice delivery system. They highlighted their grievances in a seven-page letter of protest.
While a truce may be in place for now, it is still to be seen how the apex court addresses the issues raised by the four senior judges.
“A step towards resolution has been taken by bringing the issues out in the open but that doesn’t mean that the larger issues have been resolved. Until there is a full court reference on the issue, it would be premature to even speculate a complete resolution.", said senior advocate Amit Sibal.
On 13 January, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) passed two resolutions, one holding that a full court reference comprising all judges of the apex court be made to resolve the issue over allocation of cases and another wherein all cases of public interest litigation are heard by either the CJI or the four senior judges of the Supreme Court.
A seven-member panel was set up by the BCI to hold meetings with the CJI and other judges to resolve the judicial crisis.
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!