PILs must be under CJI or top 4 judges: SC Bar body

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA)on Saturday expressed "grave concern" over the differences of the four seniormost judges with Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra and said that the issue should be immediately considered by the full court of the apex court. The SCBA executive committee, which held an emergency meeting, resolved that all public interest litigation (PIL) matters, including the pending PILs, should be either taken up by the CJI or be assigned for adjudication to four senior judges who were part of the apex court collegium.

Besides CJI Misra, others in the collegium in accordance with seniority are Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph. The four judges had in an unprecedented press conference on Friday mounted a virtual revolt against the CJI, listing a litany of problems including the assigning of cases. The SCBA resolution said that matters listed for hearing in the apex court on January 15 "should also be transferred" from other judges to the five seniormost judges who are part of the collegium.

"The differences that have been reported at the Press conference by the four senior judges of the Supreme Court and the other differences which are reflected in the newspapers are of grave concern and should be immediately considered by the full court of the Supreme Court," SCBA President Vikas Singh said while reading out the resolution. "It is further unanimously resolved by the executive committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association that all PIL matters including the pending PIL matters should be either taken up by the Chief Justice of India, or if he has to assign to any other bench, it should be assigned to the judges in the collegium. Even the matters listed on Monday ie January 15, 2018, should also be transferred as per our request," it said.

The Bar Council of India (BCI) on Saturday formed a seven-member team to meet all judges of the Supreme Court, barring the five seniormost, to discuss the present crisis. BCI chairperson Manan Kumar Misra said the apex bar body has formed the team to meet all judges of the Supreme Court barring the five seniormost judges to discuss the present crisis.