Judges’ issue to be sorted out soon: High-level SC source

NEW DELHI: Chief Justice Dipak Misra on Thursday held a meeting with the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court to sort out differences which had boiled over last week when the quartet held a news conference to express disagreement with the way highprofile cases were assigned.

The meeting between the CJI and Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph lasted around 15 minutes before court proceedings began.

“The issues will be resolved soon. We are keeping our fingers crossed. All judges have put forward their views on the issues. The CJI is considering their views,” a judicial source said denying reports of acrimony during the meeting. “There is no acrimony. The judges are talking and the issues will be resolved soon.”


The source said that the judges were meeting as part of long-established practices and conventions which ensure a continuous and healthy dialogue process among brother judges. On his part, the CJI had taken the lead in sorting out the problems.

Apart from the arbitrary allocation of cases, bypassing senior judges, the quartet had also demanded that issues such as the memorandum of procedure governing judicial appointments to superior courts be dealt with by senior judges. They had also demanded that other crucial cases involving allegations against the CJI should be heard by a Constitution Bench of senior judges.

The Supreme Court Bar Association, meanwhile, issued a statement defending the CJI against charges leveled against him by the Committee for Judicial Accountability and Reforms in the alleged medical scam. In a statement issued by president Vikas Singh, the association said that no favourable orders were passed by the CJI who was heading the bench handling the case.