Justice Chelameswar expresses anguish, refuses to list PIL of ex-law minister on the allocation of cases

New Delhi: The Supreme Court’s most senior judge Justice J Chelameswar today once again expressed his anguish over affairs in the apex court and refused to order listing of a PIL filed by former Union law minister Shanti Bhushan seeking formulation of guidelines on the allocation of cases.

In fast moving developments, advocate Prashant Bhushan, denied urgent listing of his father’s PIL, rushed to Chief Justice Dipak Misra’s court and mentioned the matter for listing expeditiously. The bench headed by CJI said, “We will look into it.”

Bhushan initially mentioned the matter before Justice Chelameswar and said this was an emergency situation. He said he was referring the matter to Justice Chelameswar’s bench as the PIL challenges the master of roster concept and the CJI can’t deal with it.

Justice Chelameswar said said the reasons were too obvious and he would not like to deal with the matter. His remarks came in the backdrop of two recent letters written by him and Justice Kurian Joseph over the affairs of the Supreme Court and alleged interference by the executive into judicial matters.

He said today that he had written a letter a few days ago to highlight affairs in the Supreme Court and in the country. “Someone is running a relentless tirade against me that I am up to grab something. There is nothing I can do much in this. I am sorry, you please understand my difficulty,” Justice Chelameswar told Bhushan.

He said the country will understand everything and will follow its own course. “I don’t want one more reversal of my order in next 24 hours. This is why I can’t do it. Please understand my difficulty,” he said.