Supreme Court judges write to Dipak Misra: Know the judges who made public allegations against CJI

In an unprecedented move, Justice J Chelameswar — the second senior-most judge in the Supreme Court — addressed the media along with three other Supreme Court judges on Friday and said that the administration of the apex court is “sometimes not in order”. Chelameswar, along with Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph, held a press conference in New Delhi on various issues relating to the apex court judiciary. [caption id=“attachment_4299741” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] (From left to right) Justice Kurian Joseph, Justice J Chelameswar, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice MB Lokur. PTI[/caption] In a letter to the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, the judges said that some important cases were “assigned by Chief Justice of this court selectively to benches ‘of their preference’ without rationale basis.” Here are brief profiles of the five judges involved in the issue: Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra: Misra was appointed as the Chief Justice of India on 28 August, 2017. He started his practice with the Orissa High Court. He was appointed as Additional Judge of the Orissa High Court on 17 January, 1996. He was later transferred to the Madhya Pradesh High Court on 3 March, 1997. He became a permanent judge on 19 December, 1997. Misra was appointed as Chief Justice of Patna High Court on 23 December, 2009. Subsequently, he was transferred as Chief Justice of Delhi High Court on 24 May, 2010. Misra was elevated as a Supreme Court judge on 10 October, 2011. In one of his judgments, Misra had said no to marriage as a compromise between a rape accused and the victim. He had pronounced the judgment upholding the death sentence of four convicts in the December 2012 gangrape case. Justice Misra authoring the judgment had said: “If ever a case called for hanging, this was it.” Justice J Chelameswar: According to the website of the Supreme Court of India, Justice Chelameswar was designated as senior counsel in 1995. He was then appointed as additional advocate-general on 13 October 1995. Chelameswar was then elevated as judge of High Court of Andhra Pradesh in 1999. He was then elevated as Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court on 3 May, 2007. He was transferred to Kerala High Court and assumed charge as Chief Justice of Kerala on 17 March, 2010. He was elevated as Judge, Supreme Court of India, on 10 October, 2011. The only judge who ruled in favour of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) legislation, he had earlier too predicted a grim picture of the Indian judiciary. Justice Ranjan Gogoi: He joined the Bar in 1978 and practised mainly in the Gauhati High Court. Gogoi was appointed as permanent judge of Gauhati High Court on 28 February, 2001. He was transferred to Punjab and Haryana High Court on 9 September, 2010 and appointed as Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court on 12 February, 2011. He was then elevated as judge of the Supreme Court on 23 April, 2012. Justice Madan Bhimarao Lokur: He was enrolled as an advocate on 28 July, 1977 and practised in the Supreme Court of India and the Delhi High Court. Lokur has vast experience in civil, criminal, constitutional, revenue and service laws. He was the central government standing counsel from December 1990 to December 1996, during which period he had handled all kinds of cases on behalf of the government. He was then designated as senior advocate in February 1997. Justice Lokur was appointed as additional solicitor-general of India on 14 July, 1998, He was then appointed as an additional judge of Delhi High Court on 19 February, 1999. He was then appointed as permanent judge of that high court on 5 July, 1999. He was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court on 4 June, 2012. He is interested in judicial reforms, computerisation of courts, judicial education, legal aid and services and juvenile justice. Justice Kurian Joseph: He began legal practice in 1979 in Kerala High Court. He was eventually elevated as Judge, Kerala High Court on 12 July, 2000. He served twice as acting chief justice of Kerala High Court. He was appointed as Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court from 8 February, 2010 to 7 March, 2013. He was elevated as judge, Supreme Court of India on 8 March, 2013. With inputs from PTI Click here to follow LIVE updates on the Supreme Court judges' press conference.