CJI, rebels meet, have heart-to-heart over tea

New Delhi: The revolt that was being seen as a major threat to the judiciary’s image in the country came to a rather tame end on Monday with the four rebel judges meeting the Chief Justice of India for a brief discussion “over a cup of tea” and then proceeding to hear cases as usual at the Supreme Court.  

Attorney-general K.K. Venugopal and Bar Council of India chairman Manan Kumar Misra, who held meetings with the apex court judges over the weekend, claimed that all was well. There was, however, no official word on how the roster is going to be prepared henceforth and whether cases will continue to be allocated only by the CJI, one of the grievances of the four judges.

The unprecedented crisis that had rocked the country’s judiciary for the last three days was alleged to have been resolved amicably after the rebel judges and the CJI sorted out their differences “over tea”. There were, however, dramatic scenes at the meeting. Sources said that a junior judge broke down after accusing the four rebel judges of tarnishing his image.

At 10 am, the four rebel judges — Justices J. Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph — attempted to sort out their difference with CJI Dipak Misra at the daily tea meeting which, on Monday, took the shape of an informal full court. Apart from the CJI, there were 22 judges in the lounge. Source said CJI Misra and the four judges discussed the thorny issues after all the staff was ordered out of the lounge where judges chat before going to court every day.

Sources also said that the tea meeting saw some heated arguments over the manner in which the four judges discussed their issues with the media. After the meeting, the rebel judges held court amid signs of a calm, as of now at least, and the agreement that they will not precipitate the matter further, sources said. Attorney-general Venugopal said, “Now everything has been settled. The courts are functioning. The storm… was resolved over a cup of tea.”

There was, however, no word from the four judges whether they were satisfied with the outcome of the meeting.

 During the day’s proceedings, the CJI “smiled but didn’t answer” when the issue of “rebellion” was raised in his courtroom by lawyer R.P. Luthra.

Mr Venugopal told the media that except for three judges, who were on leave, all other judges of the Supreme Court were present at the customary “tea meet” before the commencement of work. At the meeting, Justice Arun Mishra took exception to the four rebel judges taking his name at the press conference on January 12 and “broke down” while talking about how his image had been tarnished.

One of the rebel judges pacified Justice Mishra and expressed regret, saying he was not their target. Last Friday, the four judges had questioned the CJI’s wisdom in assigning PILs related to CBI judge B.H. Loya’s death to Justice Mishra’s court, instead of sending them to any of the top four senior judges.

Monday was the first working day after January 12 when the four addressed the media alleging that the administration of the Supreme Court “is not in order”.

The Constitution Bench, which is likely to take up eight important cases, including the Aadhaar matter, in the coming weeks still comprises CJI Misra, A.K. Sikri, A.M. Kanwilkar, D.Y. Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan. All the four top judges have been left out.

Bar Council chairman Misra said that the council’s seven-member delegation met 16 judges and the CJI in the past  two days and impressed upon them the need for putting an end to the whole issue which had dented the judiciary’s image. “We did not want any political party to take advantage of the situation. Everyone is discharging his duties and everything has been resolved amicably,” he said. On January 12, the four rebels in an unprecedented move in the annals of judiciary questioned the “unilateral and biased” decisions of the CJI in allocation of “important” cases to junior judges. They felt that they were being sidelined and alleged that the situation in the Supreme Court was not in order.

They alleged that many “less than desirable” things have taken place in the last few months.

In an apparent warning, the judges had said that lack of impartiality in allocation of high-profile cases and constitution of benches with junior judges could imperil India’s democracy.

The four judges had written a seven-page letter to the CJI two months ago on allocation of work. But the allocation of two petitions last week, seeking a probe into the death of former Mumbai-based CBI special judge B.H. Loya, who had refused to discharge BJP president Amit Shah in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, to a bench headed by Justice Mishra (number 10 in rank), triggered the controversy.