In a reconciliation attempt, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra and four senior-most Supreme Court judges — Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B lokur and Kurian Joseph — met on Tuesday.
Instead of the usual sitting of the SC Benches at 10.30 am, when the clock ticked away beyond 10.45 am, the Display Board of the Supreme Court showed that the first six courts had yet not begun sitting. This indicated that the CJI and the four senior-most judges were not alone and even Justice AK Sikri, who heads Court No 6, were holding parleys to resolve the sharp differences that have plunged the judiciary into serious crisis.
The judges are likely to meet again. Attorney General KK Venugopal speaking to mediapersons at the court said, “I think it (differences between CJI and remaining top four) has not been settled.” This was in stark contrast to claim made by him earlier that the stalemate was resolved.
However the AG expressed hope that the matter will be sorted out soon. “let us hope things will be settled within the next few days,” he said.
According to sources in the Supreme Court, the meeting between the CJI and the rebel judges was facilitated by other brother judges of the Supreme Court, with Justice Sikri taking the lead. The source further disclosed that for the present, the judges have agreed to talk and there could possibly be a meeting of minds if the CJI agreed to heed to the grievances expressed by the four senior most judges at the Press conference. The bone of contention appears to be about arbitrary listing of politically sensitive and important cases by the CJI to a particular Bench. .
This is the first time since the Friday presser that the four senior-most judges met the CJI to discuss the problem addressed by them. During the last two days. Hectic parleys took place between Justice Chelameswar and other judges to break the ice. However, with both the CJI and the four judges remaining firm on their stand, the crisis has persisted. The judges are trying to resolve the issue among themselves after Justice Kurian Joseph on Saturday ruled out possibility of mediation by any outsider.