A three-judge bench of Supreme Court on Monday queried whether advocate Prashant Bhushan’s act of filing duplicate petitions on the same issue tantamount to forum shopping. Observing that his actions had scandalised the court, the bench comprising Justices RK Agarwal, Arun Mishra and AM Khanwilkar reserved their judgement on maintainability of the petition that sought a court-monitored probe into the medical colleges scam, where judges were suspected of accepting bribes for a favourable outcome.
Last week, Bhushan’s Campaign for Judicial Accountability & Judicial Reforms and senior advocate Kamini Jaiswal had filed identical petitions on two consecutive days. During their arguments, both petitions categorically sought the recusal of CJI Dipak Misra.
The order, slated to be pronounced at 2pm on Tuesday, will not only clarify the top court’s position in the stand-off between petitioners and the judiciary, but may also decide Bhushan and Jaiswal’s fate and whether they face contempt.
Senior advocate Shanti Bhushan, representing Jaiswal and Bhushan, submitted that a CBI FIR alleged that accused retired Odisha HC judge IM Quddusi had allegedly collected money with a view to influence a sitting apex court judge. However, Justice Mishra was quick to clarify that no sitting judge of the top court was specifically named in CBI’s FIR.
Hailing Justice Jasti Chelameswar’s order - which was struck down by a five-judge bench led by the CJI on Friday - Shanti Bhushan argued the point that once a bench had deliberated on an issue and given its order, it was wrong for another bench to interfere with it.
Attorney General KK Venugopal observed that the court was facing a crisis that was brought about by the petitions. “There is a deep wedge between the bar and the judiciary. Here is a crisis of confidence (in court) itself,” he said. “This petition wants to drive the investigation in a particular direction and particular decision,” he added.
The hearing, which got increasingly heated, found Justice Mishra warning the petitioners that if such behavouir was allowed to go unpunished, no judge would be spared. “How can there be aspersions on the CJI when there is a constitutional process?”
legal tussle
In the medical colleges scam case, judges were suspected of accepting bribes for a favourable outcome in a case being heard in the top court
Order slated to be pronounced at 2pm today
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