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SC to issue orders in roster case
Context
Petition calls for transparent, codified procedure for constitution of Benches
What has happened?
A day after the Supreme Court’s number two judge, Justice Jasti Chelameswar, attacked the Chief Justice of India’s discretionary powers to constitute Benches and allocate cases, a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Monday decided to pass judicial orders on a petition calling for a transparent and codified procedure for constitution of Benches and allocation of cases in the court
Main points of the petition
- Unfettered power is being exercised by the Chief Justices in the matter of formation of Benches, and so, the same is liable to be regulated through specific rules
- Specific provisions should be incorporated in the Supreme Court Rules of 2013 that the three-judge Bench in the Chief Justice of India’s court should consist only of the Chief Justice of India and the court’s two senior-most judges
- Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court should consist of five senior-most judges — the CJI, Justices Chelameswar, Gogoi, Madan B. Lokur and Kurian Joseph — or a combination of the three senior-most and two junior-most judges
Earlier petition
- By former Union Law Minister Shanti Bhushan for a declaration that the authority of the CJI as “master of roster” should not be reduced to an absolute, singular and arbitrary power
- He has asked the Supreme Court Registry not to place his petition before a Bench of which Chief Justice Misra is a part of
