देश
Supreme Court judge Jasti Chelameswar to resign today; KM Joseph’s elevation pending
With Supreme Court judge Justice Jasti Chelameswar demitting his office, the SC Collegium’s structure and chemistry is all set to change from Friday onwards. Chelameswar will resign on Friday after a nearly seven-year tenure in the apex court.
Post-Chelameswar’s exit, Justice AK Sikri will enter the five-member Collegium, which now consists of CJI Misra and Justices Ranjan Gogoi, MB Lokur and Kurian Joseph.
On January 12, Justice Chelameswar was in headline after a three-judge bench headed by him, in an unprecedented press conference, mounted a virtual revolt against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and his style of functioning.
Apart from Chelameswar, the senior-most judge, the bench comprised justices Ranjan Gogoi, MB Lokur and Kurian Joseph, who raised their voice against “selective” allocation of cases, including the sensitive case of special CBI judge BH Loya, who died on December 1, 2014.
Accusing the CJI for the first time in the chequered history of the SC, Justice Chelameswar said, “Many things that are less than desirable happened in the last few months”.
“Unless this institution (Supreme Court) is preserved and it maintains its equanimity, democracy will not survive in this country, or any country. The survival of a democracy, it is said, the hallmark of a good democracy, is an independent and impartial judge,” he stated.
