SC adopts roster system for allocation of matters to judges

The roster system for allocation of matters to judges will come into effect from February 5.

New Delhi: In a major development, the Supreme Court on Thursday adopted the roster system for allocation of matters to judges - an issue raised by four top sitting judges of the highest court in a press conference held recently.  

The roster system will come into effect from February 5, PTI reported.

According to PTI, the decision of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra in this regard was made public on the Supreme Court's website. 

The CJI, however, kept matters pertaining to PILs to himself. 

Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra’s decision was made public on the apex court’s website.

The decision comes days after the four top judges -  Justices Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph – had openly criticised the CJI for the poor administration of the apex court. 

The rostering of cases by the CJI was such that it does not inspire confidence in the system and suggests that it was not fair, transparent or just, they said in a press conference held in the national capital recently.

They had also written an open letter to the CJI two and a half months ago in which they said that 'seniority' and 'experience' was not being taken into consideration in the allocation of cases to apex court judges.

The four judges also reportedly proposed the setting up of a committee comprising judges who would likely be Chief Justices in the future to suggest an institutional mechanism for marking of cases as per the roster that would be notified by the SC Registry. 

The SC roster is not known to the public. 

Making it public has also been one of the demands of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) too.

(With Agency inputs)