Democracy in India at stake
- by Derrick Holloway
- in World
- — Jan 14, 2018
Expressing deep anguish over four Supreme Court Judges going public on issues related to the Apex Court, former Supreme Court Judge and former Karnataka Lokayukta Justice N. Santosh Hegde yesterday said that he was "devastated" by their action which has caused "irreparable" damage to the institution. "So the ones hereby saving Dipak Misra are indirectly exposing his links with the ruling party or RSS", said a judge based in a Delhi court. "Whatever we have to say we have written in the letter".
R.S. Sodhi, a retired Supreme Court justice, was quoted by The Associated Press news agency as saying that the judges' decision to express their grievances openly was appalling. While those like Indira Jaising hailed the historic nature of the conference, others have called the conference as something that will "set a bad precedent". "(The) PM must answer the reason for sending this special messenger to (the) Chief Justice of India", tweeted Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.
Justice J Chelameshwar said the administration of the Nation's top Court was not in order.
In the matter of assignment of cases, the established conventions and traditions of the courts must be followed and the selective assignment of cases must be stopped forthwith, the statement said. But the meeting has not yet taken place since Gogoi, Joseph and Lokur have flown out of the capital for other engagements, and are unlikely to return until late Sunday evening.
In a resolution, the SCAORA said it was "pained" by the events which, according to it, "tarnished" the reputation of the apex court.
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Supreme Court judge Jasti Chelameswar along jusctice Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph during a press conference in New Delhi.
"Even the matters listed on Monday, January 15 (including the Judge Loya case) should also be transferred as per our request", the SCBA said in a release that called the differences among the judges a "matter of grave concern" and requested the full court to consider the issue.
But Supreme Court advocate Indira Jaising described the press conference as "historic". About the issue of PILs being heard by SC, it opined that they should be heard by CJI or senior judges of the collegium. "We want that the matter be solved at the earliest", Manan Kumar Mishra, Chairman of Bar Council of India said at a press conference.
"The prime minister and law minister had said yesterday itself that it is judiciary's internal matter and govt won't be interfering in the matter, and we appreciate the government's stand", he added. She maintained that judiciary and media are the pillars of democracy and that interference by the Centre in the workings of judiciary is unsafe for democracy. Chelameswar clarified that all the four judges "failed to persuade CJI that certain things are not in order and therefore you should take remedial measures. It needs to be looked into carefully", Gandhi had said. "We are convinced that unless corrective steps are taken immediately, the judiciary will lose its strong and independent tag, an essential hallmark of a vibrant democracy".
BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy said when such judges come out to do a press conference, it is necessary to take them seriously rather than finding fault.
