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Justice Chelameswar Refuses To Hear Plea On Allocation Of Cases In Supreme Court

Justice Chelameswar said the reasons were too obvious and he would not like to deal with the matter.

Supreme Court judge Justice Jasti Chelameswar during a book launch ‘Appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court of India’ edited by Arghya Sengupta and Ritwika Sharma in New Delhi. (Source: PTI)
Supreme Court judge Justice Jasti Chelameswar during a book launch ‘Appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court of India’ edited by Arghya Sengupta and Ritwika Sharma in New Delhi. (Source: PTI)

Justice J Chelameswar today once again expressed his anguish over affairs in the Supreme Court as he refused to hear a plea filed by former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan seeking formulation of guidelines on allocation of cases.

Denied urgent listing of his father’s plea, Advocate Prashant Bhushan rushed to Chief Justice Dipak Misra’s court and mentioned the matter for listing expeditiously. The bench headed by CJI said: "We will look into it."

Bhushan initially mentioned the matter before Justice Chelameswar and said this was an emergency situation. He said he was referring the matter to Justice Chelameswar’s bench as the PIL challenges the ‘master of roster concept’ and the CJI can’t deal with it. "Someone is running a relentless tirade against me that I am up to grab something. There is nothing I can do much in this. I am sorry, you please understand my difficulty," Justice Chelameswar told Bhushan.

Justice Chelameswar said the reasons were too obvious and he would not like to deal with the matter. His remarks came in the backdrop of two recent letters written by him and Justice Kurian Joseph over the affairs of the Supreme Court and alleged interference by the executive into judicial matters.

He said today that he had written a letter a few days ago to highlight affairs in the Supreme Court and in the country.

He said the country will understand everything and will follow its own course. "I don’t want one more reversal of my order in next 24 hours. This is why I can’t do it. Please understand my difficulty," he said.

Watch this interview with Prashant Bhushan, son of petitioner and former Union Law Minister Shanti Bhushan and also senior Supreme Court advocate.