Supreme Court judges' rebellion: Bar Council of India asks Rahul Gandhi, other parties not to politicise issue

A day after a press conference by four Supreme Court judges criticising the Chief Justice of India sparked off a massive controversy, the Bar Council of India (BCI) said it will form a seven-member delegation to meet the judges. The council also said it hopes that the matter will be resolved “at the earliest.” Bar Council of India’s chairman Manan Kumar Mishra said, “I request Rahul Gandhi and other political parties not to politicise the matter…The people of the country have faith in the legal system.” Referring to the Union government’s statement that the issue is an internal one of the judiciary, Mishra said that the Bar Council ‘appreciates the government’s stand."

Prime Minister and law minister had said yesterday itself that it is judiciary's internal matter and govt won't be interfering in the matter, and we appreciate the government's stand: Manan Kumar Mishra, Chairman, Bar Council of India pic.twitter.com/gjmoEioxHc

— ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2018

Mishra further said, “All the judges of the Supreme Court are people of integrity. If there is a dispute, they will sort it out themselves.” Stating that the Supreme Court is ’extremely important’ in a democracy, the Bar Council of India chairman told mediapersons that the lawyers’ body is willing to mediate in the matter. The BCI also spoke on the issue of the Memorandum of Procedure for appointing judges, saying that it should be ‘finalised at the earliest,’ but also added, “It is not such a big issue that it needs to be brought in public.” On Friday, in an unprecedented move, the four senior-most judges in the Supreme Court after the CJI 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 who addressed the press conference on Friday are Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Kurian Joseph and Madan B. Lokur, besides Justice Chelameswar. With inputs from IANS Follow live updates here.