2018 Supreme Court of India crisis

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Jasti Chelameswar.jpg
The President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind at the inauguration of the National Conference, organised by the Supreme Court Advocates-on-record Association (SCAORA), in New Delhi (cropped).JPG
The President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind at the inauguration of the National Conference, organised by the Supreme Court Advocates-on-record Association (SCAORA), in New Delhi (Kurian Joseph) (cropped).JPG
The Judge, Supreme Court of India, Justice Madan B. Lokur delivering the valedictory address, at the 35th National Symposium of Heads of Police Training Institutions, in New Delhi on March 24, 2017 (cropped).jpg
The four judges:

The Supreme Court of India was in crisis after a press conference was given by Supreme Court judges Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur, and Kurian Joseph, in which they spoke against the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra [1] [2] that he allocated certain politically controversial cases to such benches which give favourable judgements towards a political party.

Contents

The judges mentioned the allocation of the case of investigation of death of Special CBI Judge — BH Loya, who was presiding over Sohrabuddin encounter case, in which the BJP President Amit Shah and Rohith Shah were the prime accused.

Background

On 12 January 2018, four Supreme Court judges Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph gave a press meeting in an unprecedented manner. Chelameswar said, “We tried to collectively persuade the chief justice that certain things are not in order and therefore you should take remedial measures....Unfortunately, our efforts failed.” He also said, “that unless this institution is preserved and it maintains its equanimity, democracy will not survive in this country.” This occurred after Misra headed the bench which dismissed the CJAR petition against him, and after the Justice Loya case had attracted scrutiny. [3] The allegations against Misra were related to the allotment of matters to benches and constituting Constitution Benches in a way that arbitrarily ignored Senior Judges of the Court. These important cases were heard by benches headed by Dipak Misra. The judges claimed to have a written a letter to Dipak Misra for which they had not received a reply. [4] [5] [6] [7] After the press conference, Misra created a new judicial roster which excluded those who spoke against him from all constitution benches. [8]

Proposed impeachment of the Chief Justice of India

On 20 April 2018, seven opposition parties submitted a petition to the Vice President Venkaiah Naidu seeking impeachment of Dipak Misra with signatures from 71 parliamentarians. [9] On 23 April 2018, the petition was rejected by Venkaiah Naidu. [10]

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The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judicial authority and the highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also has the power of judicial review. The Supreme Court, which consists of the Chief Justice of India and a maximum of fellow 33 judges, has extensive powers in the form of original, appellate and advisory jurisdictions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vice President of India</span> Second-highest constitutional office of India

The vice president of India is the deputy to the head of state of the Republic of India, i.e. the president of India. The office of vice president is the second-highest constitutional office after the president and ranks second in the order of precedence and first in the line of succession to the presidency. The vice president is also the ex officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranganath Misra</span> 21st Chief Justice of India

Ranganath Misra was the 21st Chief Justice of India, serving from 25 September 1990 to 24 November 1991. He was also the first chairman of the National Human Rights Commission of India. He also served as Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha from the Congress Party between 1998 and 2004. He is the second Supreme court judge to become a Rajya Sabha member after Baharul Islam who was also elected as Indian National Congress member.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jasti Chelameswar</span> Indian judge (born 1953)

Jasti Chelameswar is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India. He retired on 22 June 2018 as the second most senior supreme court judge. He previously served as the chief justice of the Kerala High Court from 2010 to 2011 and the Gauhati High Court from 2007 to 2010. He was also one of the four judges who held a controversial press conference against Chief Justice Dipak Misra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranjan Gogoi</span> 46th Chief Justice of India, Member of Rajya Sabha

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Narayan Shukla (born 18 July 1958) also known as SN Shukla was an Allahabad High Court Judge. The Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra has written to the President of India recommending his removal for his alleged involvement in the medical college admission scam.

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References

  1. ↑ "Stunning mutiny in Supreme Court ranks, 4 judges take on Chief Justice of India". The Economic Times. 12 January 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  2. ↑ "Top 4 SC judges revolt against Chief Justice, question 'biased decisions'". Deccan Chronicle. 12 January 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  3. ↑ Dev, Atul. "Dipak Misra's shadow over the Supreme Court". The Caravan. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  4. ↑ "Turmoil in Supreme Court: Top developments". The Times of India . 12 January 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  5. ↑ "India Supreme Court judges: Democracy is in danger". BBC News . 12 January 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  6. ↑ "Top judges angry about functioning of India's Supreme Court". Fox News. 12 January 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  7. ↑ Ashok Sharma (12 January 2018). "Judges angry about functioning of India's Supreme Court". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  8. ↑ Dev, Atul. "Dipak Misra's shadow over the Supreme Court". The Caravan. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  9. ↑ "Chief Justice Dipak Misra Faces Impeachment Motion, 71 Have Signed: 10 Facts". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2018-04-20.
  10. ↑ Phukan, Sandeep (2018-04-23). "Venkaiah Naidu rejects impeachment notice against CJI; Opposition MPs are "unsure of their own case," he says". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 2023-05-11.
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