Chief Justice of India is an Institution And cannot be Distrusted, Says Supreme Court

New Delhi, April 11: The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking the framing of guidelines for constitution of benches and allocation of cases to the benches. The apex court declared that the Chief Justice of India (CJI) is an Institution himself and cannot be distrusted. The Supreme Court called the petition filed by Advocate Asok Pande ‘scandalous’. The bench of CJI Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud while issuing verdict on the petition said, there can't be a presumption of distrust in the Chief Justice of India.

The petition was filed by Ashok Pande, a Lucknow resident. In the petition he had asked that Constitution benches constituted by the Supreme Court should comprise the five senior-most judges, According to a report published in Hindustan Times.  Pande also demanded a special benches for hearing PILs, cases related to tax, crime and land. As Reported by The Times of India, the petition also asked CJI to consult two senior-most judges during allocation of cases. The petitioner also sought a transparent, codified procedure for the constitution of benches and allocation of cases in the Supreme Court, reported NDTV.

The PIL was filed after the12th January press conference conducted by four senior-most judges of the apex court. The judges in the press conference raised question on the working of the Supreme Court. After the press conference there was a row on the allocation of cases in the apex court and the role of CJI Deepak Mishra.

The Supreme Court said, “The Chief Justice of India (CJI) is the ‘first among equals’ and has the constitutional authority to decide allocation of cases and setting up of benches to hear them.” In the verdict the apex court ruled that CJI is a high constitutional functionary, there cannot be ‘any distrust about the responsibilities he discharges’ so that The Supreme Court can carry out work under constitution.

Another petition on a similar issue had been filed by Shanti Bhushan. This petition is still pending before the court. Shanti Bhushan's petition refers to "extremely disturbing trend of listing matters subjectively and selectively" and "serious erosion of independence of the judiciary in deciding matters objectively and independently", reported NDTV.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 11, 2018 05:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).