Your Lost Honour

With the breakdown of trust in the judiciary turning into a political battleground, the Supreme Court is faced with the task of restoring people’s faith.

- Soni Mishra

 

On April 11, a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra took just five minutes to dismiss a petition challenging the CJI’s status as master of the roster. The petitioner had arrived in court carrying the wrong file, and the three-judge bench was clear about the issue. The judgment stated that the chief justice had an exclusive prerogative in allocation of cases and constitution of benches. “There cannot be a presumption of mistrust. The oath of office demands nothing less,” said the judgment.

The order was seen by many people as an answer to Misra’s critics, including his four colleagues, who had raised questions about allocation of sensitive matters to certain benches. However, an impeachment motion initiated by the opposition parties charges Misra with having abused his authority as master of the roster to arbitrarily assign individual cases of particular lawyers to select judges in order to achieve a predetermined outcome.

While the order on April 11 emphasised that there could not be a presumption of mistrust against the CJI, it is the breakdown of trust in the higher echelons of the judiciary that has resulted in the present crisis. And, Misra is at the centre of this crisis.

Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu promptly rejected the opposition’s notice for the impeachment motion, but the decision is set to be challenged in the Supreme Court. With the breakdown of trust in the judiciary turning into a ground for a political fight between the BJP and the opposition, Misra and his colleagues are faced with the task of restoring people’s faith in the judiciary.