CJI Dipak Misra begins hearing cases as usual, after reports that he would speak about crisis
The top Supreme Court justices held a press conference earlier in the day to say that the court is in a serious crisis.
Reports had suggested that the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra was scheduled to address the media at 2 pm on Friday, in response to the allegations levelled against him by four senior Supreme Court judges earlier in the day. The four judges had also released a letter that they had written to the chief justice of India, in which they claim that the norms of selecting benches to hear cases had not been followed in a way that was damaging the reputation of the court.
2.21 pm: Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad refuted reports that he met Modi to discuss the press conference held by four senior Supreme Court judges, CNN IBN reporter Rupashree Nanda shared on Twitter.
2.15 pm: There will be no press conference, reports Bar and Bench. Misra begins hearing cases as usual.
#SupremeCourt - CJI Dipak Misra had called AG KK Venugopal for the Unitech case. Not about the #JudgesPressConference as some media outlets are putting it out. The CJI is hearing cases like he does everyday. #JusticeChelameswar
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) January 12, 2018
No press conference at 2 pm; Hearing in remaining matters commences in CJI's court. #SuoremeCourt
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) January 12, 2018
2.02 pm: Today’s crisis brings together a number of different strands, including the National Judicial Accountability Bill, which was supposed to change how judges are appointed which you can read about here; the Medical Colleges Bribery case, in which questions were raised about Chief Justice Misra’s conduct and the Judge Loya case, in which suspicions have been raised about the death of a Special CBI judge.
2 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad about the allegations made by the four Supreme Court judges, ANI reported, citing sources.
1.55 pm: Read a short profile of Justice Chelameshwar, the second-most senior judge in the Supreme Court who is at the centre of today’s developments.
1.45 pm: Misra is likely to be accompanied by Attorney General of India KK Venugopal, who he reportedly met soon after the four senior judges spoke.
12.30 pm: Justices J Chelameswar, Justice Rajan Gogoi, Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Kurian Joseph said that their attempts to get the chief justice of India to address a crisis had gone unanswered, and so they had to speak out or else democracy will not survive.
“Many things which are less than desirable have happened in the last few months,” Chelameswar said. “Democracy cannot survive without an independent judiciary,” he added.