Supreme Court: No breakthrough in sight as four dissident judges want problems acknowledged openly

The second meeting in a week between four senior judges and Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Thursday failed to provide a breakthrough in the crisis that has enveloped the Supreme Court. Those close to the judges said the four dissidents were unhappy that Justice Misra has not acknowledged the issues raised by them openly.

The meeting between Justices Misra, J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Kurian Joseph and Madan Lokur took place just minutes before the court proceedings began at 10.30 am. The meeting lasted for just about 15 minutes.

People aware of the developments said the four judges wanted the chief justice to acknowledge that there were problems in the manner in which certain decisions have been made in allotting cases to benches over the last few months. The judges were not happy with an image being created that all was returning to normal and that the problems raised by them during their press conference on January 12 have been sorted out.

However, it is unclear if the chief justice accepted this. Given that no concrete announcement came from either side on Thursday, those in the know of things said it was fair to assume that Justice Misra might be reluctant to do so.

“It is not hard to imagine such a reluctance, as it would mean acceptance of a mistake on part of the chief justice,” one person aware of the happenings said.

The person added that Justice Chelameswar will not be in Delhi on Friday. Therefore, any move towards a resolution could happen only on Monday, when the court opens again after the weekend and judges meet for their usual tea before the proceedings start.

It is also unclear if the four judges submitted a plan to solve the problem with the roster. They claimed on January 12 that matters of importance were being assigned to benches preferred by the chief justices.