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India Supreme Court judges: Democracy is in danger India Supreme Court judges: Democracy is in danger
(about 5 hours later)
Four of India's most senior Supreme Court judges have publicly challenged the authority of the head of the judiciary - in an unprecedented move. Four of India's most senior Supreme Court judges have warned that democracy is under threat because of the way the court is being run.
In a letter and a press conference, the judges said Chief Justice Dipak Misra was assigning cases to benches of his preference, breaching court rules. In the first ever news conference by sitting judges at India's top court, they said Chief Justice Dipak Misra was ignoring rules and assigning cases according to his own preferences.
Democracy would not survive in India unless the court's regulations were followed, they added. Chief Justice Misra has not responded.
This is the first time Supreme Court judges have ever addressed the media. The event has prompted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold an emergency meeting with his law minister.
By convention, they have not spoken directly to press in the past, so as to appear impartial in court cases. "The four of us are convinced that unless this institution is preserved and it maintains its equanimity, democracy will not survive in this country," Justice Jasti Chelameswar said at the news conference, held at his Delhi home.
The unprecedented event has prompted India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold an emergency meeting with Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. The four judges - the most senior of the court's 25 judges after the chief justice - circulated a letter accusing Chief Justice Misra of assigning important cases selectively to benches "with no rationale", implying that he had sought to influence the outcome.
The four judges circulated a letter they had addressed to the chief justice, accusing him of assigning cases with "far-reaching consequences for the nation" and the court selectively to benches "with no rationale" - effectively implying that he had sought to influence the outcome. In the letter, they said his role in distributing cases was to aid "an orderly transaction of business" and was not a "recognition of any superior authority".
They also expressed their unhappiness with "certain judicial orders" passed by the court, which they claimed "adversely affected the overall functioning of the court". They also expressed unhappiness with "certain judicial orders" passed by the court, which they said "adversely affected the overall functioning of the court".
The chief justice's role was "not a recognition of any superior authority" over his colleagues, they added. They were going public with their concerns, they said, because the chief justice had refused to listen to them.
They said they had no choice but to "address the nation" because the chief justice had "refused to listen to their concerns" earlier. During the news conference, Justice Ranjan Gogoi told journalists that their move had in part been prompted by concerns over the 2014 death of a lower court judge, B H Loya.
There was no specific mention of which cases they felt had been assigned to benches selectively. However Indian media speculate that the issue could be in relation to the handling of a case of alleged corruption by a retired high court judge late last year. He died shortly before he was due to give a verdict in the case of a politician from Mr Modi's BJP party, Amit Shah, who was accused of ordering a murder. The new judge assigned to the case ruled against putting Mr Shah on trial.
Critics said the chief justice had worked to ensure only judges he approved of could hear the case - raising concerns of interference in the judiciary. Judge Loya was said to have died of a sudden heart attack. The Supreme Court is now hearing a petition calling for an investigation into allegations he was murdered.
The controversy led to a petition calling for an independent investigation into the corruption charges instead. Indian media have also speculated that the judges were unhappy with the way a case of alleged corruption by a retired high court judge was handled late last year.
In that case, Chief Justice Misra overturned an order made by Justice Chelameswar referring the case to the court's top judges. He justified the decision by saying he was "master of the roster".
Critics said this raised concerns of interference in the judiciary and launched a petition calling for an independent investigation into the corruption charges.