The senior most judge of Supreme Court Justice J Chelameswar on Thursday refused to list a matter filed by former law Minister Shanti Bhushan that questioned the Chief Justice of India’s s power to allocate matters as the master of roster.
Recalling how on an earlier occasion his order to list a petition questioning the role of the CJI in a medical college scam was reversed within 24 hours by a Constitution Bench formed by the CJI, Justice Chelameswar told advocate Prashant Bhushan, “Please understand my difficulty…I don’t want one more reversal of my order in the next 24 hours.”
With almost two months to go before retirement, Justice Chelameswar candidly told Bhushan that any move by him will unnecessarily create doubts as “there seems to be a relentless campaign going on that I want to grab power.”
While mentioning his matter before Justice Chelameswar, Bhushan apprehended that his case was deliberately not being listed as he had named Chief Justice of India and asked the SC Registry not to list the case before the CJI.
Just a day ago, Bhushan submitted, a Bench headed by the CJI had dismissed a similar petition filed by a lawyer asserting yet again that the CJI alone has the power to allocate matters and constitute Benches. Though Justice Chelameswar refused, he urged Bhushan to approach the CJI.
A little while later, Bhushan appeared before a Bench headed by CJI and mentioned the petition for urgent listing.
The Bench, also comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud asked Bhushan whether the Registry had cleared all defects in the petition to which Bhushan replied in the affirmative. The CJI assured Bhushan that he will look into the matter.