This story is from January 13, 2018

Meeting of Bar Council of India in Delhi (ANI image)

NEW DELHI: The Bar Council of India (BCI) has formed a seven-member delegation which will attempt to bridge the apparent rift between four senior Supreme Court judges and Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra The meeting comes in the wake of allegations made by four apex court judges against the CJI at a first of its kind press conference held on Friday."We have unanimously decided to form a 7-member delegation of the Council who will meet honourable judges of the Supreme Court. We want that the matter be solved at the earliest," BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra told mediapersons today.The BCI chairman criticized the attempts by political leaders to intervene in the judiciary's internal matter and asked them to refrain from doing so any further."On behalf of Bar Council of India, I request political parties to not politicize the matter. We do not want the judiciary's image to be tarnished. People have unflinching faith in the judiciary," he appealed.The four seniormost judges - Justices Jasti Chelameswar , Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph - alleged that the CJI has been arbitrarily assigning important cases to benches headed by junior SC judges, ignoring senior ones.Addressing the media on the lawns of Chelameswar’s bungalow on Tughlaq Road, barely 200 metres from the CJI’s residence, the judges said they were forced to hold the press conference because a letter they had sent to the CJI two months ago pointing out mistakes had gone unanswered."We tried to persuade the CJI that certain things are not in order. Unfortunately, the efforts failed. 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," Chelameswar told reporters on Friday.Supreme Court Bar Association, which also met today to discuss Friday's news conference by the judges, said they'd unanimously passed two resolutions which they will send to the CJI."First, all the differences between the judges and the CJI, be it regarding the roster or MOP, should be considered by the full court and resolved at the earliest, preferably on Monday. Second, in order to restore the credibility of the institution, a system should be introduced wherein all PILs filed in the top court do not go beyond the first five judges of the SC collegium," said Vikas Singh, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association.Attorney general K K Venugopal, who had a meeting with Justice Misra after the joint news conference of the judges, said it "could have been avoided" and expressed hope that the crisis would be "settled" soon."Let's hope everything works out very well. I am sure everything will be settled," he said earlier today.Justice Kurian Joseph, one of the four judges who revolted against the CJI, said there was no constitutional crisis in the apex court and there are only problems in procedure which they had objected to."There will be no constitutional crisis and there are only problems in procedures and that will be corrected," Justice Kurian said earlier today.</s>Bar Council of India (BCI) Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra said a meeting of the members is being held on Saturday evening, after which a delegation will meet Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra and the four senior judges, who spoke against the CJI on Friday.

Kumar said: “We have a meeting at today (Saturday) and tomorrow (Sunday). Our delegation will meet Chief Justice Dipak Misra and those four senior judges to request them to resolve the issue internally.”

He said it was “most unfortunate” that four senior judges held a press conference, sending out a message that all was not well with the Supreme Court and that the issue should have been “sorted out internally”, the BCI Chairman said.

On Friday, in an unprecedented move, the four senior-most judges in the Supreme Court burst out in the open and accused the Chief Justice of not adhering to the rules in assigning cases to appropriate benches, which they said could create “doubts” about the integrity of the top court.

Speaking to the media at the residence of Justice Chelameswar, the judges said the Supreme Court administration was “not in order” and released an undated letter they had written to Justice Misra in which they conceded that the CJI was the “master of the roster” but this was “not a recognition of any superior authority, legal or factual, of the Chief Justice over his colleagues”.

The four judges are justices Ranjan Gogoi, Kurian Joseph and Madan B. Lokur, besides Justice Chelameswar.</s>A Bar Council of India delegation led by its chairman Manan Kumar Mishra is meeting Supreme Court judges today to discuss the unprecedented crisis that has hit the judiciary.

According to sources, the seven-member delegation has already met some of the judges of the top court and are scheduled to meet remaining judges including Chief Justice of India Dipak Mishra during the course of the day.

The BCI had yesterday formed a seven member delegation to meet and discuss with the apex court judges issues arising out of the press conference by the four senior-most judges of the top court.

On January 12, four senior-most judges of the Supreme court -- justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph -- had mounted a virtual revolt against the CJI at a press meet in Delhi on Friday raising litany of problems including assignment of cases.</s>The Bar Council of India on Saturday said that it had unanimously decided to form a seven-member delegation which will meet the judges of the Supreme Court, a day after four senior justices openly protested against Chief Justice Dipak Misra for reportedly bypassing established traditions in court to assign cases to benches.

“We want that the matter be solved at the earliest,” Bar Council of India Chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra said.

Speaking about the complaint raised by Justices Jasti Chelameswar (pictured above), Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, Mishra said that the memorandum of procedure “must be finalised at the earliest”.

“We will write a letter to the government for the same, but is not that big a matter to be brought in public,” he added.

The Bar Council chairperson said the statements made by Congress President Rahul Gandhi and other political parties were unfortunate, and requested them not to politicise the matter. Gandhi had on Friday called for a full court to investigate the claims made by four Supreme Court judges about maladministration in the apex court.

The press conference had evoked mixed reactions from various members of the society.

Mishra, however, praised the government’s reported stance to not interfere as the controversy was part of the “judiciary’s internal matter”.

The Supreme Court Bar Association President Vikas Singh urged the full court to look into the concerns the judges had raised. Earlier on Saturday, Singh had said that the justices’ complaints were not substantial,

The bar association in an emergency meeting also adopted a resolution that urged only the chief justice or the four other senior judges of the apex court to hear all Public Interest Litigation matters, including the one calling for an independent inquiry into the death of special Central Bureau of Investigation judge Brijgopal Harkishan Loya.

“The first meeting of SCBA will be with the Chief Justice of India,” Singh said. “If he agrees with our views, we will take further appointment from the other judges too and fix a meeting with them.”

On Friday, the four judges alleged that the chief justice had violated conventions in his role as the master of the roster. Chief Justice Misra had moved the Medical Colleges bribery scam from Justice Chelameshwar’s court to his own in November 2017.</s>In an unprecedented move, 4 senior SC judges held a press meet to protest against CJI Dipak Misra.

'We have given an opportunity to Congress President Rahul Gandhi and other political parties to comment on the judiciary. This is extremely dangerous,' the Bar Council of India chairperson said. (Photo: ANI)

New Delhi: Bar Council of India delegation on Sunday met Justice Chelameswar. One of the member said, "they will react after meeting Chief Justice of India and the other three dissenting judges in the evening."

Amidst indication that the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra is likely to meet the four rebel Judges—J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph—on Monday to settle the differences, the Bar Council of India (BCI) has formed a seven-member delegation which will attempt to resolve the issue.

Talking to the media BCI Chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra said "We have unanimously decided to form a 7-member delegation of the Council who will meet honourable judges of the Supreme Court. We want that the matter be solved at the earliest. We have got appointment from 23 judges. We want this matter to be solved earliest.”

Expressing his anguish over the turn of events, Mishra said “We have given an opportunity to Congress President Rahul Gandhi and other political parties to comment on the judiciary. This is extremely dangerous. We Request the political class to refrain from commenting on this issue. We do not want the judiciary's image to be tarnished. People have unflinching faith in the judiciary.”

On the differences in finalising the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) relating to judges appointment, Mishra said "MoP must be finalized at the earliest. Judges have been appointed through collegium. This is not an issue that must be taken to the public. We request the judges not to give an opportunity for such an incident to occur again.”

On senior advocate Dushyant Dave criticizing the CJI, the Chairperson said “Mr. Dave might be a famous lawyer for you. He is not a famous lawyer for the Bar Council. There are some lawyers who are creating a nuisance.”

However, one of the four judges told this newspaper “so far nothing has been told to any one of us.”

Earlier on Saturday, the Attorney General KK Venugopal told a television channel that by Monday morning litigants and lawyers would see unity among the Supreme Court judges as a solution would be found by then. He said the matter would be settled in the larger interest of the institution.

He was of the view that the top judges are persons of wisdom, statesmanship and experience and they would not allow the issue to escalate.

In Kolkata, Justice Gogoi on the sidelines of a meeting told the media that there was no crisis. He however, refused to comment on the question whether the revolt amounted to indiscipline.

At Kochi Justice Kurian Joseph expressed confidence that the issues raised by them would be resolved.

Also read: Here’s the text of letter given by 4 top judges of SC to CJI

Justice Joseph maintained that the four judges acted solely in the interest of judiciary and justice. He rejected suggestions that they had violated the disciplined and hoped that their action would bring in more transparency in the administration of Supreme Court.

An issue that has come to the attention of everyone would certainly be resolved, Justice Joseph said adding that the judges had acted only to "enhance the trust of the people in judiciary."

Meanwhile the visit of Nirupendra Mishra, Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary to the residence of CJI Dipak Misra raised speculation about the purpose of the meeting.

However, sources said he had gone to meet the CJI to wish him for New Year and also the CJI shifting to the official residence in Krishna Memon Marg but he could not meet the CJI, as the CJI was busy in his morning schedule.

Latching onto media reports that he visited the CJI’s residence, the Congress said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi must answer as to why a "special messenger" was sent to meet the CJI.

On Friday the four judges said they were forced to hold the press conference because a letter they had sent to the CJI two months ago pointing out mistakes had gone unanswered.

"We tried to persuade the CJI that certain things are not in order. Unfortunately, the efforts failed. We are convinced that unless corrective steps are taken immediately, the judiciary will lose its strong and independent tag, which is an essential hallmark of democracy”, they had said.

Later on Saturday evening, the Supreme Court Bar Association at an emergent meeting to discuss Friday's developments, unanimously passed two resolutions which they will send to the CJI.

It said the differences including on roster or MoP which are reflected in the newspapers are of grave concern and should be immediately considered by the Full Court of the Supreme Court.

The second resolution in order to restore the credibility of the institution, a system should be introduced wherein all PILs should not go beyond the first five judges of the SC collegium," said Vikas Singh, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association.

He declined to spell out the stand on Loya's death probe case.

“We feel that the situation is of grave consequences for the future of the court and must be resolved”, he added.</s>Two days after four senior-most Supreme Court judges held a press conference saying that the administration of the Supreme Court was not in order, a seven-member Bar Council delegation led by its Chairman Manan Mishra on Sunday arrived at Justice J Chelameswar’s residence in New Delhi to discuss the crisis within the judiciary. According to PTI, the delegation, that has already met some judges of the apex court, will meet the remaining judges including Dipak Misra during the course of the day.

“The council is of the unanimous view that it is an internal matter of the Supreme Court. The Council has hope and trust that the judges of the Supreme Court would realise the seriousness of the issue and in future, they may avoid any such situation which the politicians or political parties could take undue advantage and or which could cause harm to our judiciary,” the BCI said in a statement on Saturday.

The council also requested political parties and politicians not to make an issue as it could harm the judiciary. On Saturday, the lawyers’ body expressed serious concern over the differences arising between the Chief Justice of Indian Dipak Misra and four top judges of the Supreme Court. The BCI president Manan Mishra said that it was unfortunate that the four judges held a press conference, sending out a message that all was not well with the Supreme Court. He said the matter should have been solved internally.

On January 12, Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph took on the CJI Dipak Misra, saying the Supreme Court was not in order and many things which are less than desirable have happened in the past few months. They said they tried to persuade CJI that certain things aren’t in order, but they failed.

“For the survival of a democracy, it is said… the hallmark of a democracy is independent and impartial judges. Since all our efforts failed… Even this morning, on a particular issue, we, four of us, went and met the Chief Justice with a specific request. Unfortunately, we could not convince him. Therefore, we were left with no choice but to communicate with the nation to please take care of the institution and the nation,” the four judges said.</s>crisis New Delhi, Jan 14 (PTI) Hectic parleys were going on today among Supreme Court judges over the crisis that has erupted after the virtual revolt by four seniormost judges of the apex court against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.

Two top court judges -- justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao -- met Justice J Chelameswar, who had led the four judges in the unprecedented press conference, at his official residence here, sources said.

The meeting of these judges took place soon after a seven-member delegation of the Bar Council of India (BCI), the regulatory body of lawyers, met Justice Chelameswar at his residence to discuss the crisis that has hit the judiciary.

The BCI delegation, led by its Chairman and senior advocate Manan Kumar Mishra, is meeting all the apex court judges today to discuss on the issue.

Sources said the delegation has already met several apex court judges, including Justice R K Agrawal, and has also sought an appointment to meet CJI Misra in the evening today.

A BCI source said that the seven-member delegation's meetings with the judges will be on till late in the evening as some of the judges are away from Delhi and likely to return in the evening.

Meanwhile, a coordination committee of all Delhi bar associations has also called a press meet in the evening to express its views on the recent happenings.

The apex lawyers' body had yesterday held a meeting to discuss the developments that has surfaced after the January 12 press conference by justices Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph.

These four judges had raised a litany of problems, including the assigning of cases in the apex court, and said there were certain issues afflicting the country's highest court.

The BCI had termed the press conference by the judges as an "unfortunate step" and said, "From the letter of the judges, it appears that there were certain differences between the chief justice of India and these judges on the issues relating to roster and the listing of some cases." It had constituted a seven-member delegation to meet the apex court judges and make them acquainted with the views of the bar.

"The delegation would request them (judges) to resolve the issue at the earliest. The council is of the unanimous view that it is an internal matter of the Supreme Court," the BCI has said in its press statement.

It has also cautioned political parties and politicians "not to criticise the judiciary and/or to make it an issue, because it would weaken the independence of our judiciary which is the protector of our democracy".

The council has also expressed the hope that judges of the top court would realise the "seriousness of the issue and in future, they may avoid any such situation of which the politicians or the political parties could take undue advantage and/or which could cause harm to our judiciary".

Besides Manan Kumar Mishra, the delegation comprises BCI co-chairman S Prabakaran and other members -- Vijay Bhatt, Apurba Kumar Sharma, Pratap C Mehta, Rameshchandra G Shah and T S Ajith. BCI's vice-chairman Satish A Deshmukh is a special invitee of the delegation.

Yesterday, Justice Gogoi had said "there is no crisis" while Justice Jospeh had said that there was no need for an outside intervention to solve the issue.

Regarding these statements, the BCI has said, "These are positive statements in strengthening the Indian judiciary and it establishes that the matter would be resolved soon." The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) had yesterday expressed "grave concern" over the differences of the four seniormost judges with the CJI and had said the issue should be immediately considered by the full court of the apex court.

The SCBA executive committee, which held an emergency meeting, had resolved that all public interest litigation (PIL) matters, including the pending PILs, should be either taken up by the CJI or be assigned for adjudication to four senior judges who were part of the apex court collegium.

Besides CJI Misra, others in the collegium in accordance with seniority are -- justices Chelameswar, Gogoi, Lokur and Joseph. PTI ABA MNL PKS RKS SC .

This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.</s>NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Four former senior Indian judges on Sunday released a letter in support of a group of Supreme Court judges who on Friday openly criticized the way the top court was functioning.

The retired judges — including a former Supreme Court judge and a chief justice of the Delhi High Court — confirmed they had issued an open letter to the Chief Justice of India after four Supreme Court judges held a press conference on Friday in which one of them warned that the nation’s democracy was under threat because of the way the top court was being run.

The four sitting judges of the Supreme Court had criticized distribution of cases to judges and raised concerns about judicial appointments in the nation’s highest court under Chief Justice Dipak Misra.

Misra has not responded to their allegations.

“We agree with the four judges that though the chief justice of India is the master of roster and can designate benches for allocation of work, this does not mean that it can be done in an arbitrary manner such that sensitive and important cases are sent to hand-picked benches of junior judges by the chief justice,” the former judges said in the open letter on Sunday.

Reuters was able to confirm that the letter was drafted and signed by four former judges P.B.Sawant, A.P.Shah, K. Chandru and H. Suresh.

Two of the retired judges said it was important to support the group of Supreme Court judges because they had taken the bold step of speaking out publicly to protect the sanctity of the most important institution of India.

Friday’s public outburst by judges prompted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold an emergency meeting with his law minister on Friday but the government has refused to comment.

The four former judges said in the statement that all rules and norms must be laid down clearly for allocation of cases.

“This must be done immediately to restore public confidence in the judiciary and in the Supreme Court,” the former judges said.</s>The Bar Council of India has set up a seven-member team in an attempt to resolve the differences between the four dissenting and (CJI) Dipak Misra. The team is expected to start its deliberations with all judges, except the top five, immediately. The Supreme Court Bar Association also passed a resolution on Saturday that the rift should be considered by a full bench of the apex court. It also said that the CJI or senior judges should look at all public interest litigations. Justice Kurian Joseph, one of the four who virtually revolted against the chief justice, on Saturday said there was no need for an outside intervention to solve the issue, while the apex court bar body called for a full court consideration of the matter. Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who was also among the four judges, told PTI in Kolkata, "There is no crisis." He made the remark on the sidelines of a programme, when asked about the way forward to resolve the crisis in the top court. Justice Joseph said the matter was not brought to the attention of the President of India as he has no constitutional responsibility over the Supreme Court or the judges of the apex court. He said there was no constitutional lapse from the part of CJI but convention, practice, and procedure has to be followed while carrying out his responsibility. "We just brought that matter to his attention," he said at an event near Kochi. Top 10 developments in the Supreme Court crisis: 1) The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) expressed "grave concern" over the differences of the four seniormost judges with CJI Dipak Misra. The SCBA executive committee, which held an emergency meeting, resolved that all public interest litigation (PIL) matters, including the pending PILs, should be either taken up by the CJI or be assigned for adjudication to the four senior judges who were part of the apex court collegium. ALSO READ: Bar Council of India forms 7-member team to meet SC judges barring top 5 2) Meanwhile, the Bar Council of India (BCI), the apex body of lawyers, formed a seven-member team to meet the judges of the Supreme Court on Sunday to discuss the present crisis in the apex court. ALSO READ: Issues raised by Supreme Court judges internal matter of judiciary: Sources It passed a resolution, saying no political party or leaders should take "undue advantage" of the situation arising out of the press conference by the top court judges. In an unprecedented move, justices J Chelameswar, Gogoi, M B Lokur and Joseph, had launched a public attack against the CJI, listing a litany of problems, including the issue of assigning of cases. The BCI cautioned the political parties and leaders from taking an "undue advantage" of the situation in the apex court. It said the four senior-most judges going public with their differences with the CJI had given an opportunity to the political parties and leaders to interfere in the affairs of the judiciary. Without taking any name, BCI chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra said, "No political party or leader should take an undue advantage of the situation arising out of the press conference of the four senior " The reference to political parties and leaders assumes significance as Congress president Rahul Gandhi had on Friday addressed the media after the judges went public with their grievances. At an emergency meeting called by the BCI's governing body, comprising 17 members, the resolution was passed, saying the seven-member committee would meet all the apex court judges tomorrow. Mishra later said that the members of the committee would also meet the four judges and, in the end, the CJI. The BCI said it was of the view that such issues should not be made public. 3) "An issue was raised. Those concerned have listened to it. Such actions would not occur in future. So (I) believe that the issue has been settled," Justice Joseph told reporters on the sidelines of the silver jubilee celebrations of the Major Archiespicopal Status of the Syro-Malabar Church in Kakkanad near Kochi. "There is no need for outside intervention to solve the matter because its is a matter (that) occurred within an institution. Necessary steps would be taken by the institution itself to sort it out," he said, when asked if an outside intervention was required to solve the matter.

Earlier, he rejected suggestions that they had violated discipline and expressed the hope that their action will bring in more transparency in the administration of the Supreme Court.

4) A day after the presser by the four judges, TV visuals on Saturday showed prime minister's Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra turning up at the residence of the CJI.

The visuals showed Nripendra Misra driving to the CJI's official residence here. However, the gates were not opened and after waiting for a while, the principal secretary to the prime minister was seen driving back.

5) After the visuals were aired, the Congress party on Saturday asked the PM to explain the reason for sending his 'special messenger' (Nripendra Misra) to meet the CJI.

"As PM's Principal Secretary, Nripendra Misra visits CJI's residence at 5, Krishna Menon Marg; PM must answer the reason for sending this special messenger to Chief Justice of India," Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted.

It all started when news agency ANI reported on Saturday afternoon that Nriprendra Misra was "seen outside" the CJI's residence. "On the way to office, I stopped at the CJI's residence, and left my card at the gate with Happy New Year greetings. I did not meet the CJI," Nripendra Misra told the media later.

Attorney General K K Venugopal was also slated to meet the CJI. Government sources said the CJI in turn was expected to meet the four judges on Sunday.

The SCBA resolution said that matters listed for hearing in the apex court on January 15 "should also be transferred" from other judges to the five senior-most judges who were part of the collegium.

7) In Mumbai, BJP ally Shiv Sena's chief Uddhav Thackeray said attempts were being made to make the judiciary "deaf and dumb". Thackeray said the government should not meddle in the matter and allow the judiciary to do its work.

"The decision of those judges should be lauded. There is a high possibility that there will be an inquiry called against them now. However, it should be unbiased," he added.

8) Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, who has turned a critic of the Modi government in the recent times, said in Noida that his party colleagues and ministers should "get rid of their fear" and "speak up for democracy", just like the four who came out publicly against the CJI. Sinha, a former finance and external affairs minister, said the prevailing atmosphere was like the Emergency in 1975-77 and voiced concern over short parliamentary sessions.

If Parliament is compromised, the Supreme Court is not in order, democracy is threatened, he said.

9) In Lucknow, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids at the residences of Karti Chidambaram was to distract people from the issues raised by the judges. The ED on Saturday conducted searches at 10 premises linked to Karti Chidambaram in connection with money laundering probe in the Aircel-Maxis case.

10) The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam asked President Ram Nath Kovind to intervene in the matter. "In case, if a stage comes wherein judges could not resolve the issue, President Kovind should intervene and resolve it," party’s working president M K Stalin said in Chennai.</s>The Council hope and trust that the Hon’ble Judges of Supreme Court would realize the seriousness of the issue and in future avoid any such situation. (Photo: PTI/File)

New Delhi: A seven member team from the Bar Council of India after their hectic parleys on Sunday of meeting several judges and the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said the “issue will be amicably sorted out.”

In a day-long exercise, the team met 11 judges including three of the four rebel judges, Justices J. Chelameswar, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph before meeting the CJI to hammer out a solution into the unprecedented crisis created by the four senior most judges who revolted against the manner of CJI’s functioning.

The team persuaded them to sort out the differences amicably in the interest of the judiciary and proper administration of justice.

The delegation comprised of Manan Kumar Mishra (Chairman), S Prabakaran, (Co-Chairman) and members Vijay Bhatt, Apurba Kumar Sharma, Pratap C Mehta, Rameshchandra G Shah and TS Ajith met Justices RK Agrawal, AK Goel, Arun Mishra, L Nageswara Rao and few others.

The Supreme Court Bar Association President Vikas Singh also met the CJI at his residence and handed over a copy of the resolutions passed on Saturday that the PILs should be allocated to top five judges and the Full Court should meet and sort out the problem.

Manan Kumar Mishra and Prabhakar told this newspaper that the judges were very receptive to the suggestion to resolve the issue and expressed the hope that the CJI would soon meet the top judges or convene a Full Court meeting to find ways and means to put an end to the imbroglio that has dent the image of the judiciary.

They said the team apprised the CJI of their meeting the other judges and impressed on him the need for an amicable solution. They said they are hopeful of any early settlement on the points raised by four judges.

They said “the Council does not think it proper to enter into such controversies on allotment of cases and it is for the Hon’ble Judges of Supreme Court and the Chief Justice of India to resolve such matters and find out a solution.

Indian Judiciary is the strongest pillar of our Constitution. People have full faith in the system, but such steps (by rebel judges) may shake the faith of our people.”

Prabhakar said the Council was of the unanimous view that it is an internal matter of the Supreme Court.

The Council hopes and trust that the Hon’ble Judges of Supreme Court would realize the seriousness of the issue and in future they may avoid any such situation of which the politicians or the political parties could take undue advantage and/or which could cause harm to our Judiciary.

Justices SA Bobde and L Nageswara Rao are understood to have met Justice Chelameswara Rao in the afternoon.

Meanwhile PB Sawant, former apex court Judge, AP Shah former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court and former High Court judges K. Chandru and H Suresh wrote to CJI Dipak Misra to resolve differences.

They said the four senior most Judges of the Supreme Court have brought to light a serious issue regarding the manner of allocation of cases, particularly sensitive cases, to various benches of the Supreme Court.

They expressed a grave concern that cases are not being allocated in a proper manner and are being allocated arbitrarily to particular designated benches, often headed by junior judges, in an arbitrary manner. This is having a very deleterious effect on the administration of justice and the rule of law.

The letter said “We agree with the four Judges that though the Chief Justice of India is the master of roster and can designate benches for allocation of work, this does not mean that it can be done in an arbitrary manner such that, sensitive and important cases are sent to hand-picked benches of junior judges by the Chief Justice. This issue needs to be resolved and clear rules and norms must be laid down for allocation of benches and distribution of cases, which are rational, fair and transparent. This must be done immediately to restore public confidence in the judiciary and in the Supreme Court.”

They suggested that all sensitive and important cases including pending ones, be dealt with by a Constitution Bench of the 5 senior most Judges of this Court. Only such measures would assure the people that the Supreme Court is functioning in a fair and transparent manner and that the power of the Chief Justice as master of roster is not being misused to achieve a particular result in important and sensitive cases. They urged Justice Misra to take immediate steps in this regard.

Senior Advocate Ashok Bhan in an open letter to the CJI Misra said that the administration of the Supreme Court is not in order and many things which are less than desirable have happened in the last few months.

The four Judges had said they wrote a letter to CJI and tried to persuade him to take redressal steps but failed.

These issues are at surface, what lies beneath are more serious questions and the attribution of more insidious motives, he said.

Bhan added “the way out involves just not what but who. It has to be you alone as the Chief Justice who has to reach out to your brother and sister Judges as a first among equals to earn back their collective trust and confidence and carry all the judges together in discharge of their debt to perform their duties in accordance with constitutionalism and judicial discipline. Dithering to resolve the intra-Judges conflict and crisis of mutual confidence will cost the nation dear and; that would colossally shake the people's faith in the great institution of Supreme Court.”
The Bar Council of India forms a 7-member delegation which will attempt to meet the four most senior Supreme Court judges on behalf of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra. This comes in the wake of allegations made by the four top judges against the CJI at a first of its kind press conference held on January 12.