CJI as master of roster: SC reserves order on Shanti Bhushan's PIL

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday reserved its order on a PIL filed by former law minister Shanti Bhushan challenging the existing roster practice of allocation of cases by the Chief Justice of India (CJI).

Attorney General K K Venugopal opposed Bhushan's PIL before a bench comprising Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan and said the exercise of allocation of cases has to be done by one person and that has to be the CJI.

"This is not an exercise that can be taken by a multiplicity of persons," Venugopal, who was earlier asked by the top court to assist in the matter, said.

The AG also told the bench that if many judges are involved in deciding on the roster and allocation of cases, there might be a "chaos" over which cases should be heard by whom.

The bench also heard the submissions of senior advocate Dushyant Dave and advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for Shanti Bhushan, on the issue.

The bench had earlier said it has already held that the CJI is the 'master of roster'.