CJI meets 4 rebel judges, they too meet on their own

Four senior most judges of the Supreme Court, who had hurled accusations against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on several issues, today met among themselves, amid hectic parleys between other judges to resolve the crisis.

Their meeting came hours after the CJI reached out to them at the apex court lounge and held parleys with them over tea, before starting the day's proceedings in the apex court.

It is learnt that Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph had a meeting but nothing concrete has emerged. The meeting in the evening took place at the residence of one of these judges.
 

However, the outcome of the deliberations is not known.

Sources said the judges are likely to meet the CJI tomorrow morning as usual and probably some more deliberations are on the cards as hectic parleys are on to restore normalcy in the top court's functioning.

"As of now, nothing concrete has emerged," sources close to the four judges said.

Some of the judges, lower in the apex court hierarchy, are in favour of some rapprochement at the earliest on the grounds that the reputation of the judiciary is at stake.

The four judges had in an unprecedented press conference on January 12 raised a litany of problems, including the assigning of cases in the apex court, and said there were certain issues afflicting the country's highest court.

A senior advocate said there was a need to resolve the crisis as several important PILs are likely to be heard from tomorrow before the constitution bench of the Supreme Court.

Others said even the matter relating to the death of special judge B H Loya should not have been heard in such a surcharged atmosphere.

Senior advocate and SCBA president Vikas Singh had wondered why some activist lawyers were making a fuss about assignment of sensitive cases in the apex court to judges who are ranked lower in seniority.

Speaking to PTI, Singh in his personal capacity, condemned the reported remarks of another senior advocate who supported the four judges on the allocation of PILs to the five senior most judges of the apex court.

"These activist lawyers are looking for judges who can always give them favourable orders," Singh said.

Amidst the ongoing crisis, a body comprising activists from various fields today said it has handed over a complaint against CJI to the five senior most Supreme Court judges over alleged misconduct in connection with the medical college bribery case.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, the convenor of Campaign for Judical Accountability and Reforms (CJAR), held a press conference and repeated all the allegations it had raised in its PIL in the case that was dismissed by the Supreme Court with an exemplary cost of Rs 25 lakh.

The petition was dismissed on December 1 last year.