Delhi HC dismisses plea challenging appointment of CJI DY Chandrachud

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed a plea to review its order rejecting a challenge to the appointment of Justice D Y Chandrachud as the Chief Justice of India (CJI), saying it was filed in the guise of seeking re-hearing of the petition which is not permissible.

A bench of Justices Sanjeev Sachdeva and Vikas Mahajan said no ground was made to review the November 11, 2022 order passed by another bench of the high court which had also imposed Rs one lakh costs on the petitioner.

“It is an appeal disguised as a review petition. The petitioner has not been able to point out any error apparent on the face of the record. No ground is made out to review the November 11, 2022 order. The review petition is accordingly dismissed,” the bench said.

The bench further said it appeared that the review petition has been filed in guise of seeking a re-hearing of the petition which is not permissible in review.

The high court had last year dismissed with costs the public interest litigation by Sanjeev Kumar Tiwari against the appointment of Justice Chandrachud as the CJI.

While dismissing the PIL, the earlier bench had said the offices held by the constitutional functionaries in public trust are not open to denigration by self-styled warriors of public interest on the basis of superficial allegations.

The petitioner, in his review plea, has sought to set aside the earlier order as well as to waive off the costs.

While arguing the review petition, the petitioner alleged that he was not allowed to even read his plea by the previous bench and that his friends were not permitted to enter the court premises to hear his case.

To this, Justice Sachdeva said when they sit for hearing a matter, they have already gone through the files and since the petitioner had to argue the case, his friends were not required here.