Supreme Court judges press conference LIVE updates: Justices Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph addressed the media today saying they were discharging their duty to the nation by saying what’s what.
By: Express Web Desk | New Delhi | Updated: January 12, 2018 6:51 pm
Supreme Court judges press conference: The four judges addressed the media at the residence of Justice Chelameswar today. (Express Photo/Abhinav Saha)
Stating that they have failed to convince the Chief Justice of India Deepak Misra, four of the five seniormost judges of the Supreme Court – Justices Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph – said there was an immediate need to preserve the judiciary system in the country if democracy has to be protected. The press conference, a first of its kind for sitting judges of the Supreme Court, was being held at the residence of Justice Chelameswar.
“We met CJI with a specific request which unfortunately couldn’t convince him that we were right therefore, we were left with no choice except to communicate it to the nation that please take care of the institution,” Justice Chelameswar said. A formal statement has also been issued.
LIVE UPDATES – SC judges press conference
6.45 pm: Attorney General K K Venugopal said the Supreme Court judges with their statesmanship will fully resolve their differences tomorrow, ANI reports.
4.55 pm: CPI leader D Raja reacts on meeting Justice Chelameshwar. “Have known him for a long time. When I came to know of the extraordinary step taken by him and other judges, I thought must meet him. Not giving it political colour. These are concerns for everybody, it’s about future of country & democracy,” he was quoted as saying by ANI. (Photo credit: Praveen Jain)
4.15 pm: Congress leader and senior advocate Kapil Sibal to meet Rahul Gandhi at 5pm today over the press conference by the four Supreme Court judges, ANI reported.
4.00 pm: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said, “We are deeply anguished with the developments today about the Supreme Court. What we are getting from the statement of the four senior Hon’ble Judges of Supreme Court about the affairs of the Court makes us really sad as citizens.”
3.00 pm: Speculation that CJI Dipak Misra could address the media in his court room today has ended as his bench in Court Room No 1 has risen for the day.
2.50 pm: Indira Jaising, Supreme Court advocate: “I think it’s a historic Press Conference. It was very well done. I think we, the people of India, have a right to know what is going on within the judiciary & I welcome this.”
2.45 pm: “We are very concerned to hear 4 judges of the Supreme Court expressed concerns about the functioning of the Supreme Court,” the Congress Party tweeted today.
2.30 pm: Indian jurist and former Attorney-General of India Soli Sorabjee has also reacted to the press conference held by four senior judges of the Supreme Court. Here’s what he had to say:
“There’s no question of selling their souls. I don’t think it’s a good move and I’m not in favour of it at all. I’m very upset about this, I wish the four Supreme Court judges hadn’t done this. This will have severe repercussions on judiciary.”
2.17 pm: BJP MP and senior lawyer Subramanian Swamy had this to say about the press conference held by four senior judges of the Supreme Court.
“We can’t criticize them, they are men of great integrity & have sacrificed a lot of their legal career, where they could’ve made money as senior counsels. We must respect them. PM must ensure that the 4 judges & CJI, in fact whole SC come to one opinion & proceed further.”
2.15 pm: “Judges had to come before the media and take this unprecedented step. This means that there is a serious dispute, either with Chief Justice of India (CJI) or some internal dispute,” PB Sawant, former Supreme Court judge said.
2.05 pm: In our Opinion section today, senior advocate and former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association Dushyant Dave writes that the “Chief Justice of India is exercising his power to constitute benches, allocate cases in a manner that raises questions about independence of judiciary.” Read his full piece ‘An opaque justice’ here.
An independent and strong judiciary is the basic feature of the Constitution. We are faced with an extraordinary situation where the judiciary is being marginalised from within, not from outside. It is important for this institution to ensure that an impression is not given to the public that the constitution of benches and allocation of matters is being done in a manner more palatable to the executive. Government is the single biggest litigant before the Supreme Court. Citizens are entitled to expect the free and fair administration of justice.
1.50 pm: Senior politician Yashwant Sinha had this to say about the press conference held by the four top judges of the Supreme Court.
Absolutely unprecedented, the press conference of the four senior judges of supreme court. Most important take away 'when national interest is at stake ordinary rules of business do not apply.
1.43 pm: There are reports that the Chief Justice of India will make a statement at 2 pm this afternoon in court room no 1, when the court resumes proceedings following a lunch break. He is likely to be accompanied by Attorney General KK Venugopal. There is, however, no official confirmation of the same. News agency PTI reports, quoting court sources, that the CJI had called for a meeting with Venugopal. We will get you an update as soon as there’s a confirmation.
1.41 pm: Deeply sad and pained and I also feel a sense of agony that highest court of land should come under such severe stress that forces judges to address the media,” Salman Khurshid, senior advocate said.
1.40 pm: “This is a black day for Judiciary. Today’s press conference would cause a bad precedent. From now on every common man could look at all judicial order with suspicion. Every judgement will be questioned,” senior lawyer Ujjwal Nikam
1.30 pm: “It is certainly a very serious development which has cast a huge shadow on the Chief Justice. Somebody had to confront the situation, where Chief Justice is blatantly misusing his powers, hence the unprecedented step,” Prashant Bhushan, senior lawyer said.
1:23 pm: “I think all four judges should be impeached, they have no business to sit there and deliver verdicts anymore. This trade unionism is wrong. Democracy in danger is not for them to say, we have parliament, courts, police functioning,” said Justice R.S. Sodhi (Retd)
"it's an extraordinary event in the history of the nation and the judiciary", Justice Chelameswar addressing the presser @IndianExpress
"There hv been instances where cases hvng far-reaching consequences for nation & the institution had been assigned by the Chief Justices of this court selectively to the "benches of their preference" without any rationale basis for such as assignment...", their letter to CJI said
12.35 pm: “Nobody is breaking the rank and it is a discharge of debt to the nation which we have done,” Justice Gogoi said during the press conference.
(Express Photo/Abhinav Saha)
12.33 pm: “There are many wise men saying many wise things in this country. We don’t want wise men saying 20 years from now that Justice Chelameswar, Gogoi, Lokur and Kurian Joseph sold their souls and didn’t do the right thing by our constitution,” Justice Chelameswar said, concluding the press conference.
12.30 pm: “Four of us are convinced, the democracy will not survive. We met CJI this morning, with specific request but we could not convince him. We had no choice but to communicate to the nation to take care of the institution. We place it before people of country,” Justice Gogoi said
Supreme court judge Justice Jasti Chelameswar with Justice Kurian Joseph. (Express Photo/Anil Sharma)
12.25 pm: Citing an instance, Justice Chelameswar said: “About a couple of months ago, four of us gave a signed letter to CJI. We wanted a particular thing to be done in a particular manner. It was done, but in such a way that it raised further questions on integrity of institution. The same thing happened this morning. Justice Gogoi further said: “We are discharging our duty to the nation by telling you what’s what.”
12.15 pm: “All our efforts have failed and we are all convinced that unless this institution is not preserved, democracy can’t be protected in the country,” Justice Chelameswar said.
12.10 pm: Terming the event ‘extraordinary in the history of any nation and in the history of the judiciary’, Justice Chelameswar, addressing the media, said ‘sometimes the administration of the SC is not in order and many things which have happened in the last few months that have compelled them to put the facts before the nation.
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