They have argued that ‘master of roster’ could not be an ‘unguided and unbridled discretionary power, exercised arbitrarily by the CJI by hand-picking benches of select judges.’
New Delhi: Former law minister Shanti Bhushan and his lawyer-activist son Prashant Bhushan have moved a petition in the Supreme Court Friday to “regulate the administrative powers of the Chief Justice of India”.
Prashant Bhushan is also likely to seek an urgent hearing of the petition once it is filed.
“The present writ petition raises substantial question (sic) of law as to the scope and ambit of the administrative powers and their exercise by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India,” the petition says.
Significantly, the Bhushans have asked that the case not be heard by incumbent Dipak Misra as he had last year set up and headed the Constitution bench that declared the CJI’s ‘master of roster’ powers could not be questioned.
They have also written a letter to the secretary general of the Supreme Court registry saying that since the petition directly involves the chief justice and since he is a respondent, he should not hear the case or decide the roster to hear the case.
The Supreme Court usually sits in benches of two judges. Larger benches are formed as and when necessary. The CJI, as the master of the roster, has the prerogative to allocate cases to all the other judges.
Apart from setting up a constitution bench to reiterate the powers of the master of the roster, Misra had issued an administrative order that fresh mentioning of cases (request to list them) would only be allowed before the CJI.
The ruling nullified Justice J. Chelameswar’s decision to hear a plea that sought an investigation into alleged attempts to bribe certain judges of the apex court. The allegations related to a case involving a Lucknow-based medical college that was heard by a CJI-headed bench.
In their petition, the Bhushans have argued that ‘master of roster’ could not be an “unguided and unbridled discretionary power, exercised arbitrarily by the CJI by hand-picking benches of select judges or by assigning cases to particular judges”.
If the registry allows Bhushan’s petition, it could be heard by Justice Chelameswar, the second most senior judge in the apex court. Chelmeswar is due to retire on 23 June. He is one of the four judges who held the unprecedented 12 January press conference to express concerns regarding case allocation under CJI Misra.
Welcome move. Overthrow the tyrant!