After revolt by top judges, CJI to address media

NEW DELHI: The observations made by Supreme Court judges are extremely disturbing and have far-reaching consequences, claimed Congress president Rahul Gandhi and spokesperson RS Surjewala during a press conference on Friday.

In an unprecedented move, four senior Supreme Court judges on Friday called a press conference to express their displeasure with the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Mishra and with the way he was assigning cases.

The judges blew the lid off a growing rift with Chief Justice Dipak Misra at a news conference, the first of its kind ever held by sitting judges of India's top court. 

Chelameswar, speaking beside his colleagues, Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph, said they did not want to be accused of not having spoken up for the institution, or of "selling their souls". 

Efforts to alert the Chief Justice that certain things were not in order and that remedial measures needed to be taken had failed, prompting the news conference, Chelameswar said.

Here are the latest updates:

12 January 2018

14:41 IST

PM Narendra Modi speaks to Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad over allegations made by the four Supreme Court judges

14:41 IST

Judges' press conference: Congress says democracy is in danger

"We are very concerned to hear 4 judges of the Supreme Court expressed concerns about the functioning of the Supreme Court. #DemocracyInDanger," tweets official handle of Congress 

We are very concerned to hear 4 judges of the Supreme Court expressed concerns about the functioning of the Supreme Court. #DemocracyInDanger

— Congress (@INCIndia) January 12, 2018

14:37 IST

Retired High Court judge Mukul Mudgal says: There must be some serious reason that they were left with no other option but to hold a Press Conference. But what connection Loya has with this? I know nothing about this & I don't want to make comments about any political matter

14:37 IST

Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra meets Attorney General KK Venugopal over allegations made by four Supreme Court judges

14:36 IST

Supreme Court advocate Indira Jaising says: I think it's a historic press conference. It was very well done. I think we, the people of India, have a right to know what is going on within the judiciary and I welcome this

14:36 IST

Ex-Supreme Court judge PB Sawant says: Judges had to come before media & take this unprecedented step. This means that there is a serious dispute, either with Chief Justice of India (CJI) or some internal dispute

14:32 IST

The 7-page letter that the senior Supreme Court judges released to the media on Friday morning

14:14 IST

Major takeaways from Justice Chelameswar's address:

1.This is an extraordinary event in the history of any nation, more particularly this nation and an extraordinary event in the institution of judiciary. It is with no pleasure that we are compelled to call this press conference

2.We owe a responsibility to the institution and the nation. Our efforts have failed in convincing CJI to take steps to protect the institution

3.Sometimes administration of the Supreme Court is not in order and many things which are less than desirable have happened in the last few months

4.All of us are convinced that unless this institution is protected and maintain its requirements, democracy will not survive in the country or any country. For survival of a democracy, it is said... the hallmark of a democracy is independent and impartial judges

5.Failed to persuade CJI that certain things are not in order and therefore you should take remedial measures. Unfortunately our efforts failed. And all four of us are convinced that democracy is at stake and many things have happened in recent past

6.But sometimes administration of the Supreme Court is not in order and many things which are less than desirable have happened in the last few months

7.It is too well settled in the jurisprudence of this country that the chief justice is only first amongst the equals -- nothing more or nothing less

8.We have heard a lot of wise men talking about. But I don`t want some wise men to tell us later after 20 years that we four judges sold our souls instead of taking care of the institution and the nation. We have placed this in front of the people. This is what we wanted to convey

14:14 IST

On being asked about issues that they were addressing in this unprecedented media address by Supreme Court judges, Justice Chelameswar said that assignment of cases was one of the issues

14:11 IST

We made a request to the CJI for a rectification in certain matter, but were turned down. We will give a copy of the letter to the press. We are not running politics here and we are nobody to impeach the Chief Justice of India: Justice Chelameswar

14:10 IST

Unless this institution is preserved, democracy will not survive in this country, says Justice J Chelameswar. He adds it is 'extremely painful' to hold press conference in such a manner

14:08 IST

Four Justices said they had met Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra this morning and 'raised issues affecting the institution'

14:08 IST

Four of us have been telling the CJI Dipak Misra to correct his ways for the sake of the institution: Justice Chelameswar

"We have spotted things in the last few months. Tried to intervene but to no avail. Twenty years from now, the nation should not say we sold our souls."

14:08 IST

About a couple of months back, four of us gave a signed letter to the Chief Justice of India. We wanted a particular thing to be done in a particular manner. But the way it was done, it raised further questions about the integrity of the institution: Justice Chelameswar

13:45 IST

The Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Chelameswar, Madan B. Lokur and Kurien Joseph begin the press conference. ""At the outset, we four would like to thank each one of you for responding on a very short notice. It's an extraordinary event in the history of this institution. The administration of the Supreme Court is not in order. Many things that are less than desirable have happened in the last few months," says Justice Chelameswar.

13:45 IST

Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra to address the media at 2:00 pm. Attorney General to also accompany him