'No regrets regarding press conference of 12 January,' says Justice Kurian Joseph day after retirement from SC

A day after his retirement as a Supreme Court judge, Justice Kurian Joseph once again questioned the delay by the government over new norms for appointing judges.

At a press conference, CNN-News18 quoted the retired judge as saying: “I wonder why the government says Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) is still not final. The collegium is working as per the draft MoP but the government is not acting.”

While speaking to journalists, justice Joseph said he had no regrets regarding the press conference held on 12 January.

It may be recalled that on that day, four senior judges of the apex court — justice Joseph, J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur —  held a press conference where they publicly raised concerns over allocation of cases to benches.

The retired judge further said that the press conference was done for a cause and added that the “crisis” for which the press conference was held is not yet over and the process is still going on. “It will take some more time,” the he said. However, justice Joseph added that even though the crisis is not over, “it has brought about some changes”.

When questioned about senior judges being left out on important matters, Joseph responded, “In matters of larger public interest, it is better if diversity is reflected in constituting benches,” reported Bar and Bench .

The retired judge has repeatedly questioned the Centre’s tactics in delaying appointment of then Uttarakhand chief justice KM Joseph as a judge of the apex court. KM Joseph was elevated to the Supreme Court on 3 August after the Centre cleared his name ending several months of uncertainty.

Justice KM Joseph’s elevation to the apex court had put an end to a protracted stand-off between the government and the judiciary. He had headed a bench that had quashed the imposition of President’s Rule in the state in 2016. Uttarakhand was then under Congress rule.