In an attempt to come clear of the controversy that has come to haunt him after his retirement, former CJI Altamas Kabir on Tuesday denied allegations of favouritism and bias leveled against him in appointment of judges to the apex court.
The ex-CJI issued a Press release and also supplied the mediapersons with a copy of his letter written to Gujarat High Court Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya, who had openly criticised Justice Kabir for acting with bias to prevent him from getting appointed to Supreme Court.
This, Justice Bhattacharya had alleged, was due to his refusal to elevate Justice Kabir’s sister as judge of Calcutta High Court. The Gujarat Chief Justice had shot off a letter on March 19 to the President and Prime Minister raising this grievance against the ex-CJI.
Rebutting this allegation, Kabir in his letter said, “The views of one of the members of the Collegium not even that of the Chief Justice has any impact on the ultimate decision that is taken. In your case, the matter was before a Collegium consisting of five judges, who took a unanimous decision.”
On the other news report against Kabir accusing him of pushing for the appointment of a judge from Madhya Pradesh in SC, the ex-CJI said, “Madhya Pradesh, which is one of the largest States in India,
has been without representation ever since the last judge to represent the State retired in August 2012.”
He pointed out that the suggestion to appoint the judge in question, who is the senior most judge in MP, began in October 2012 and was taken up again on May 1 this year.
His angst against the Collegium was evident as the press release said, “My attempts to bring up the matter for discussion was again shot down as one of the members of the Collegium wanted time to find out about the background of the judge concerned.”
In fact, he smelt a conspiracy behind the Collegium fixing the next meeting on July 2, a fortnight before he was to retire. Kabir said, “The Collegium members in unison suggested that the matter be taken up on July 2….being fully aware that by then the name of the new CJI would have been notified.” When the Collegium met, the members decided to clear the names under the chairmanship of the new CJI.
The former CJI also countered a third charge accusing him of hearing the Sahara group case out of turn when the issue was under consideration before another bench. Treating the matter to be of a simple deposition of dues by the company, Kabir said that it was the joint decision of the bench to hear the matter. “We felt it to be in the interest of depositors to extend the time for depositing such installments by a short period, as that would give them a chance to recover their dues quickly.”
What the ex-CJI, however, avoided was the fact that the bench seized of the matter had refused this permission and directed SEBI to attach the properties of Sahara companies.