On Listing of Cases in the Supreme Court

Source: This post has been created based on the article “On listing of cases in the Supreme Court” published in “The Hindu” on 11^th December 2023.

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 2 Indian Polity – Structure, organization and functioning of the Judiciary.

News: The article discusses the issues with the listing of cases in the Supreme Court.

Recently, concerns were raised by two senior lawyers on the “irregularities” in the listing of cases in the Supreme Court.

What is the role of the CJI in the allocation of cases?

The Chief Justice of India, as master of roster, has administrative control over the allocation of cases.

The Handbook on Practice and Procedure of the Court and Office Procedure says that the Supreme Court Registry functions on the instructions and orders of the Chief Justice of India as regards allocation of work to a Bench and assignment of cases from one Bench to another Bench (on account of non-availability).

What were the concerns raised by the senior lawyers?

Firstly, the movement of cases which were already listed and in which notices were issued by one Bench, to another Bench.
It was claimed that some cases had been suddenly taken away from Benches hearing them and listed before other Benches.

Secondly, whether a case, instead of remaining with the presiding judge of the Bench before which the matter was listed, can be transferred to the puisne judge (a judge part of the Bench, but lower in seniority than the Presiding judge) when he/she (the puisne judge) starts heading a new Bench.
This was being done even when the senior judge was still available, which is against rules, procedure and established conventions.

Terminology Used:

Puisne Judge: A puisne judge is a judge who is ranked lower in seniority than the Chief Justice of that court.

Question for practice:

Transparency in the Supreme Court’s functioning is the need of the hour. Discuss in the context of the role of the CJI as Master of Roster.