Ex-CJI R.M. Lodha says independence of judiciary is non-negotiable
1 min read . Updated: 01 May 2018, 10:59 PM IST
PremiumReferring to the present state of turmoil in the Supreme Court, Lodha said the chief justice should take all judges of the institution along and work towards achieving the goals of the Constitution
New Delhi: Independence of the judiciary is non-negotiable and it must come from the Supreme Court to avoid chaos in the lower courts, former chief justice of India R.M. Lodha said on Tuesday, while asking if the power of being the master of roaster could be exercised arbitrarily by a chief justice.
Lodha was speaking at a book launch event in New Delhi. The event was attended by former chief justice of the Delhi high court A.P. Shah, lawyer Fali S. Nariman, BJP leader L.K. Advani, Congress leader P. Chidambaram and other eminent personalities.
Referring to the present state of turmoil in the Supreme Court of India, Lodha said the chief justice should take all brother and sister judges of the institution along and work towards achieving the goals of the Constitution.
“Supreme Court is no place for personal grudges. You may have differences but there should be collegiality (amongst judges)," Lodha further said.
Justice A.P. Shah criticized the judgement of the Supreme Court dismissing a plea seeking investigation into the death of Justice Loya, calling it “utterly wrong and jurisprudentially wrong on many counts".
The Supreme Court has been at the centrestage of public debates after the four senior-most judges of the apex court publicly questioned the leadership of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra in a press conference earlier this year.
The four judges, J. Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B. Lokur and Kurian Joseph, had alleged that the chief justice was not following established precedents in allocation of cases among the judges, which “adversely" affected the justice delivery system.
