Reports suggest that the members of the opposition parties have renewed their efforts to remove CJI Dipak Misra from his office in the light of the allegations of bribery against him in the Medical Admission Scam case. The draft on impeachment motion against CJI Dipak Misra has been signed by Congress leaders including Kapil Sibal, Ghulam Nabi Azad. NCP’s Majeed Memon has also signed the draft.
It is not the first time that the Supreme Court has been marred by controversy ever since CJI Misra has joined the office. The initiation of the impeachment motion was back on the opposition’s agenda after the senior most judge of the Supreme Court of India, Justice J. Chelameswar, along with Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Kurian Jospeh, held a press conference over the controversy relating to assignment of cases by the CJI. The judges had also released the letter that they had addressed to the CJI on the said issue. On the principle of Chief Justice being the ‘master of the roster’, the letter states:
“The convention of recognizing the privilege of the Chief Justice to form the roster and assign cases to different members/benches of the Court is a convention devised for a disciplined and efficient transaction of the business of the Court but not a recognition of any superior authority, legal or factual of the Chief Justice over his colleagues.”
It is important to note that earlier, the Court number 1 of the Supreme Court witnessed a high voltage drama when a 7-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, Justice Dipak Misra, assembled for reviewing the 2-judge bench order calling for constitution of a Constitution Bench of the first five judges of the Supreme Court to hear the matter wherein it was alleged that attempts were made to bribe some Supreme Court Judges in the matters relating to Medical admission scam. The bench of J Chelameswar and S. Abdul Nazeer, JJ had given the said order on 09.11.2017 .
Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who was one of the 4 judges who held the aforementioned press conference, is next in line to be the Chief Justice of India after CJI Justice Dipak Misra retires on 02.10.2018.
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(With inputs from ANI)