CJI first among equals, says SC in fresh ruling
CJI is the head of institution, authority vested with him is to ensure smooth administrative and judicial functioning of the court. SUPREME COURT BENCH
NEWDELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to spell out guidelines for the setting up of judicial benches and allocation of work at the apex court and high courts, holding that this is the exclusive prerogative of the Chief Justice of India (CJI), as the “first among equals”, to decide on both, reaffirming its current position, already reinforced in a November 2017 ruling, and which is at the core of differences between the CJI and four senior judges of the court.
“The Constitution puts a CJI at the helm of affairs of the top court. CJI is the head of institution, authority vested with him is to ensure its smooth administrative and judicial functioning,” ruled a bench comprising CJI Dipak Misra and justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud.
The top court dismissed a PIL that sought guidelines for rational and transparent alloca- tion of cases and constitution of benches to hear them. It said in its judgment that the current system ensures the independence of the court and that any move to allocate cases to judges on the basis of expertise or seniority would only end up questioning the competence of all SC judges.
According to SC rules, which have the sanction of the president of India, the CJI has the discretion to allocate work and form benches of the top court. This discretionary power of the CJI as the master of the roster was questioned in January by the four sen- ior-most judges of the apex court after the CJI — justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, MB Lokur and Kurian Joseph — when they held an unprecedented press conference and protested against work allocation by the CJI.
“There have been instances where case having far-reaching consequences for the Nation and the institution had been assigned by the Chief Justices of this Court selectively to the benches ‘of their preference’ without any rationale basis for such assignment. This must be guarded against at all costs,” the judges wrote in an open letter to the CJI.
At an event on Saturday, Chelameswar said while the CJI undoubtedly had the power to constitute benches to hear different cases as the mater of the roster, “this power has to be exercised for achieving some public good. It can’t be exercised just because it is there. All power is trust and it has to be done for some public good.”