​Bribery case hearing on Monday; CJI clips powers of No. 2

NEW DELHI: Chief Justice Dipak Misra on Saturday moved to clip the powers of the second senior-most judge in the court hierarchy even as it was announced that a three-judge bench, comprising Justices RK Agrawal, Arun Mishra and AM Khanwilkar, will hear on Monday a demand for an SIT to probe alleged charges of bribery to procure favourable court orders.

In an unparalleled move, the CJI has decided that all mentioning matters will be heard only by him. A circular issued on Saturday said that all matters which are not listed before any bench by the CJI should be mentioned only before a bench presided over by the CJI.

Justice Chelameswar can no longer hear unscheduled, unlisted matters mentioned by any lawyer for early listing.