The most senior judge in the Supreme Court after the CJI, Justice Jasti Chelameswar, has written to Chief Justice Dipak Misra seeking a full court on the judicial side to discuss the matter of government interference in appointment of judges to high courts, the Indian Express reported.
The most senior judge in the Supreme Court after the CJI, Justice Jasti Chelameswar, has written to Chief Justice Dipak Misra seeking a full court on the judicial side to discuss the matter of government interference in appointment of judges to high courts, the Indian Express reported.
According to the report, the five-page letter has also been written to 22 other SC judges. Sources told the daily that the letter was written to prevent criticism of some judges who had not been taken into confidence when the four most senior judges — Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, besides Chelameswar — held a press conference on January 12, complaining that the CJI had taken no action on issues raised in their letter to him.
“Justice Chelameswar’s letter, signed on March 21, states that the government has been selective in accepting recommendations of the Supreme Court Collegium for appointment of judges to high courts. It chooses to ignore or defer the names it finds uncomfortable, the letter states, thereby affecting the independence of the judiciary,” the report added.
The letter goes on to demand a full court on the judicial side to discuss the current situation. A full court meeting of the Supreme Court is usually convened by the CJI when a matter of public importance relating to the administration of the judiciary comes up.
The letter comes at a time when Opposition parties have called for the impeachment of CJI Misra.
"A lot of opposition parties have signed the draft proposal for moving an impeachment motion against CJI Dipak Misra. Many parties like Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Left parties and I think TMC and Congress have also signed it," NCP General Secretary D.P. Tripathi told ANI.
Mamata Banerjee told reporters, “I can only say that Trinamool Congress will go with whatever decision the other parties take on the impeachment of the CJI. After all, one cannot ignore what the four judges had to say.”
The development came after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's meeting with senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan earlier in the day to discuss a possible impeachment motion against the CJI.
The impeachment motion is in relation to the CJI's handling of the matters raised by four Supreme Court judges in a press conference on January 11.
Justices Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M.B. Lokur and Kurien Joseph had earlier this year said Misra was assigning important cases in an arbitrary manner to junior judges, ignoring these four senior judges.
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