Near consensus among legal fraternity over Justice Chelameshwar’s letter

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, Mar 30, 2018 : The legal fraternity of the state is optimistic of the move to highlight the interference of the Centre in the judiciary, which has had an adverse impact on its functioning.

 

They were responding to a letter written by Supreme Court Justice J Chelameshwar, accusing Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court Dinesh Maheshwari of being "willing to do the Executive bidding," by initiating an inquiry against Justice P Krishna Bhat, in a case in which he was cleared twice.

In the letter dated March 21, addressed to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Mishra, Justice Chelameshwar has asked the CJI to call for a full-court meeting to address the issue of government interference in the appointment of judges to high courts.

Former Justice of the Karnataka High Court Justice Chandrashekaraiah said, "If the Centre wanted an inquiry into the matter, it should have requested the Chief Justice of India to direct the Chief Justice of Karnataka to hold an inquiry, instead of directly communicating to the High Court. Let us see the result of the full-court meeting."

A few retired judges of the Supreme Court, retired chief justices of various high courts refused to comment, but admitted that the Centre should have followed due procedure.

Speaking to DH, A P Ranganatha, president of the Advocates’ Association, Bengaluru, said that he completely endorses the views expressed by Justice Chelameswar.

"He has raised one of the major concerns of interference by the central government in judiciary. Such interference is a threat to the judiciary at large. I am hopeful that he will also raise other issues concerning the central government’s involvement in the judiciary during the full-court meeting," he said.

Similar opinions were shared by Sadashiva Reddy, co-chairman of the Bar Council of India. He said, "Once the recommendations made by the Supreme Court collegium are sent to the Centre for approval, the Centre can return the same to the collegium if it chooses. Thereafter, the collegium will reconsider the names and send it back to the Centre. Then, the Centre has no choice, but to approve them. Thus, the Centre does not have a say in the judicial process. The request to the Chief Justice of India to call a full-court meeting by Justice Chelameswar is the right move in this direction."


courtesy:DHNS