SC judges against CJI: All you need to know about 4 dissenting judges

In an unprecedented move, four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court today held a press conference to talk about the functioning of the top court saying the situation was "not in order" and many "less than desirable" things have taken place.

Justice Jasti Chelameswar, who was accompanied by Justices Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur, and Kurian Joseph at the press conference, said they had met CJI Dipak Misra this morning and "raised issues affecting the institution".

They also referred to a letter that they had written to the CJI expressing concern on certain judicial orders passed by the Supreme Court. According to the four judges, these orders  “adversely affected the overall functioning of the justice delivery system.”

Here is all we need to know about the four judges: 

Justice Jasti Chelameswar

Justice Chelameswar, currently the senior-most judge in the Supreme Court after CJI,  was born on June 23, 1953. He has served as Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court in 2007. He was elevated as judge of the Supreme Court on October 10, 2011.

He has contributed to several high-profile judgments in his 6 years in the top court. 

In a two-judge bench of Supreme Court, Chelameswar along with Rohinton Fali Nariman struck down the Section 66A of the Information Technology Act. The judges held the section as unconstitutional. The law awarded three years imprisonment to anyone accused of posting emails or other electronic messages which "causes annoyance or inconvenience". 

In a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, he along with Sharad Arvind Bobde and Chokkalingam Nagappan approved an earlier order of the apex court clarifying that Indian citizens would not be deprived of basic services and government subsidies in absence of Aadhaar.

 
Justice Chelameswar was the only judge on the Constitution bench to have spoken in favour of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) which would have nullified the Collegium system for appointment of judges. 

The bench struck down the controversial law but Justice Chelameswar argued against the collegium saying the proceedings under the system were “absolutely opaque and inaccessible both to public and history, barring occasional leaks."

Justice Ranjan Gogoi

Justice Ranjan Gogoi is next in line to become the CJI after Justice Misra retires. Born on November 18, 1954, he was appointed as the Permanent Judge of Gauhati High Court on February 28, 2001 and was elevated as Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana Court on February 12, 2011. He was appointed as a Supreme Court  Judge on 23 April 2012. 

Justice Gogoi has been part of several historical judgments.

His bench had passed the order bringing in new electoral reforms. After the remarkable judgment, a candidate can contest elections only after making full and honest disclosure of his assets, educational and criminal background.

His bench restrained ruling parties from publishing photographs of political leaders/prominent persons in government-funded advertisements. 

He along with other judges on a bench had declined to consider Jat community under the backward status. 

He was also the part of the seven-judge bench that issued a contempt order against Justice CS Karnan, a Calcutta High Court judge, on the charge of contempt of court and degrading the judiciary. 

Justice Madan B Lokur

Justice Madan Bhimarao Lokur was born on December 31, 1953. He has vast experience in Civil, Criminal, Constitution, Revenue and Service Law. He was appointed as Judge of the Supreme Court on May 4, 2012.
 
He was part of the Andhra Pradesh High Court Divisional Bench in 2012 that had struck down Government of India's decision to allocate 4.5% sub-quota (within the 27% Other Backward Classes quota) for minorities. The bench ruled out the government's decision saying it was based on religion. 

While serving as the Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court, he suspended Special CBI Judge T Pattabhirama Rao and ordered his prosecution in a Mining scam case relating to the Reddy brothers.

Justice Kurian Joseph

Justice Kurian Joseph, born on November 30, 1953, was elevated as the judge of Supreme Court on March 8, 2013. He had served as Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court in 2010. 

Justice Joseph along with two other judges is hearing the controversial Coal Allocation Scam case.

He was also part of a three-judge bench that overruled the Afzal Guru decision on the point of admissibility of electronic evidence.