When will the crisis within the Supreme Court be resolved? Even though the Bar Council of India assured things will be fine soon, Chief Justice Dipak Misra is yet to reach out to the four rebel SC judges. With the Bar Council scheduled to address a press conference on Monday afternoon, here’s a quick look at the top developments in the CJI vs SC judges case:
1. A seven-member BCI delegation met with Chief Justice Misra on Sunday evening. “We met CJI in a congenial atmosphere, everything will be sorted out. Everyone we talked to, has assured that matter will be sorted out,” BCI chairman Manan Mishra told mediapersons after the 50-minute long meeting.
2. The BCI delegation also met three out of the four rebel judges on Sunday, to discuss the issues raised by them.
3. In an unprecedented event, four senior-most SC judges – Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph – accused the CJI of assigning cases importance to selective benches on Friday. The four justices said that India’s democracy is at risk unless the wrongs in the top court are set right.
4. The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Vikas Singh also met Chief Justice Misra for nearly 15 minutes on Sunday. Handing over a resolution on behalf of the association, Singh asked for a full court discussion to defuse the present crisis.
5. Political parties have accused the BJP-led centre of interfering in judiciary. While the Congress claimed that the charges against CJI is a threat to Indian democracy, Trinamool chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the government’s interference “is a real danger to our democracy.”
6. Congress president Rahul Gandhi has demanded a thorough investigation into the entire matter at the highest level. Observing that the statements made by the four Justices are disturbing and have far-reaching consequences, he said, “All citizens who love the idea of justice are looking at this issue, needs to be addressed.” Congress also questioned why Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent his Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra to CJI Misra`s residence on Saturday.
7. The legal fraternity is divided over the issues, with some supporting the rebel justices and others calling the incident ‘unfortunate’.
8.Four retired judges, including a former SC judge, also wrote an open letter to the CJI, agreeing with the issues raised by the four rebel SC judges. The letter adds that crisis needs to be resolved “within the judiciary”.
9. Criticising the public commentary against CJI by the four justices, former judge RS Sodhi said that the credibility of the top court has been ruined. “Credibility of Supreme Court has been ruined, to what extent I don’t need to say, we all know. This faith needs to reinvented, all judges are of very high integrity but saying only we should get all cases and not others is wrong,” said Sodhi on Sunday.
10. The Delhi District Court Bar Associations meanwhile threatened to take to streets if the crisis was not resolved within 10 days.
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