crisisNew Delhi, Jan 14 (PTI) Hectic parleys were going ontoday among Supreme Court judges over the crisis that haserupted after the virtual revolt by four seniormost judges ofthe apex court against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.
Two top court judges -- justices S A Bobde and LNageswara Rao -- met Justice J Chelameswar, who had led thefour judges in the unprecedented press conference, at hisofficial residence here, sources said.
The meeting of these judges took place soon after aseven-member delegation of the Bar Council of India (BCI), theregulatory body of lawyers, met Justice Chelameswar at hisresidence to discuss the crisis that has hit the judiciary.
The BCI delegation, led by its Chairman and senioradvocate Manan Kumar Mishra, is meeting all the apex courtjudges today to discuss on the issue.
Sources said the delegation has already met several apexcourt judges, including Justice R K Agrawal, and has alsosought an appointment to meet CJI Misra in the evening today.
A BCI source said that the seven-member delegation'smeetings with the judges will be on till late in the eveningas some of the judges are away from Delhi and likely to returnin the evening.
Meanwhile, a coordination committee of all Delhi barassociations has also called a press meet in the evening toexpress its views on the recent happenings.
The apex lawyers' body had yesterday held a meeting todiscuss the developments that has surfaced after the January12 press conference by justices Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi,Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph.
These four judges had raised a litany of problems,including the assigning of cases in the apex court, and saidthere were certain issues afflicting the country's highestcourt.
The BCI had termed the press conference by the judges asan "unfortunate step" and said, "From the letter of thejudges, it appears that there were certain differences betweenthe chief justice of India and these judges on the issuesrelating to roster and the listing of some cases."It had constituted a seven-member delegation to meet theapex court judges and make them acquainted with the views ofthe bar.
"The delegation would request them (judges) to resolvethe issue at the earliest. The council is of the unanimousview that it is an internal matter of the Supreme Court," theBCI has said in its press statement.
It has also cautioned political parties and politicians"not to criticise the judiciary and/or to make it an issue,because it would weaken the independence of our judiciarywhich is the protector of our democracy".
The council has also expressed the hope that judges ofthe top court would realise the "seriousness of the issue andin future, they may avoid any such situation of which thepoliticians or the political parties could take undueadvantage and/or which could cause harm to our judiciary".
Besides Manan Kumar Mishra, the delegation comprises BCIco-chairman S Prabakaran and other members -- Vijay Bhatt,Apurba Kumar Sharma, Pratap C Mehta, Rameshchandra G Shah andT S Ajith. BCI's vice-chairman Satish A Deshmukh is a specialinvitee of the delegation.
Yesterday, Justice Gogoi had said "there is no crisis"while Justice Jospeh had said that there was no need for anoutside intervention to solve the issue.
Regarding these statements, the BCI has said, "These arepositive statements in strengthening the Indian judiciary andit establishes that the matter would be resolved soon."The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) had yesterdayexpressed "grave concern" over the differences of the fourseniormost judges with the CJI and had said the issue shouldbe immediately considered by the full court of the apex court.
The SCBA executive committee, which held an emergencymeeting, had resolved that all public interest litigation(PIL) matters, including the pending PILs, should be eithertaken up by the CJI or be assigned for adjudication to foursenior judges who were part of the apex court collegium.
Besides CJI Misra, others in the collegium in accordancewith seniority are -- justices Chelameswar, Gogoi, Lokur andJoseph. PTI ABA MNL PKS RKSSC.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.