Two 'rebel' SC judges, who complained against CJI, now say 'no crisis' within judiciary

Two of the four SC judges who had openly revolted against CJI Dipak Misra over "selective" case allocation and certain judicial orders, on Saturday said that "there is no crisis".

Kolkata: Two of the four Supreme Court judges who had openly revolted against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra over "selective" case allocation and certain judicial orders, on Saturday said that "there is no crisis".

Justice Ranjan Gogoi, one of the four senior Supreme Court judges who criticised CJI Dipak Misra for the alleged faulty administration of the top court, on Saturday said that "there is no crisis".

"There is no crisis," Gogoi was quoted by PTI as saying.

Gogoi said this on the sidelines of a programme when asked about the way forward to resolve the present crisis with the judiciary.

When asked whether the four judges' act had amounted to a violation of discipline, Gogoi refused to comment, saying, "I have to catch a flight to Lucknow. I cannot talk."

The senior apex court judge was here to attend the eastern regional meet of the state legal services authorities. 

Separately, Gogoi's colleague Justice Kurian Joseph, who is also one of the four rebel judges, today said there was no constitutional crisis in the apex court and there are only problems in the procedure they had objected to.

"There will be no constitutional crisis and there are only problems in procedures and that will be corrected," Justice Kurian told reporters.

He said the judges had "written everything in the letter" they released on Friday and which they had sent to Justice Misra a couple of months ago.

Asked whether he felt that the judges should not have come out in the open with their grievances against the Chief Justice, Joseph said, "Any problem, everyone can see two sides. Whatever we have to say we have written in the letter." 

Earlier this morning, the Bar Council of India (BCI) said that the presser by the four top court judges was ''unfortunate''.

BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra further said that a meeting of the members is being held this evening, after which a delegation will meet Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra and the four senior judges, who spoke against the CJI on Friday.

"We have a meeting at today (Saturday) and tomorrow (Sunday). Our delegation will meet Chief Justice Dipak Misra and those four senior judges to request them to resolve the issue internally," Kumar said.

He said it was "most unfortunate" that four senior judges held a press conference, sending out a message that all was not well with the Supreme Court and that the issue should have been "sorted out internally."

On Friday, in an unprecedented move, the four senior-most judges in the Supreme Court burst out in the open and accused the Chief Justice of not adhering to the rules in assigning cases to appropriate benches, which they said could create "doubts" about the integrity of the top court.

Speaking to the media at the residence of Justice Chelameswar, the judges said the Supreme Court administration was "not in order" and released an undated letter they had written to Justice Misra in which they conceded that the CJI was the "master of the roster" but this was "not a recognition of any superior authority, legal or factual, of the Chief Justice over his colleagues".

The four judges are justices Ranjan Gogoi, Kurian Joseph and Madan B. Lokur, besides Justice Chelameswar.

(With Agency inputs)