Chief Justice of India is the 'Master of Roster,' rules Supreme Court

The Supreme Court today rules that the Chief Justice of India is the ‘Master of Roster’ and that he alone has the power to assign cases.

This is the third time in eight months that the top court reiterated that Chief Justice of India is first among equal. The ruling came during the hearing of a petition filed by senior lawyer Shanti Bhushan in connection with the judge roster system. The court rejected the plea and said that the CJI is the roster boss.

The judgment was passed by Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan. It should be noted that the apex court also stated at the outset that it is not treating Shanti Bhushan’s petition as an adversarial litigation, and is not doubting the bonafides of the petitioner. 

The ruling comes months after a Supreme Court Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra reasserted his own authority, in the face of criticism from fellow judges, and said he is the first among equals and cannot be distrusted.

The Bench of CJI Misra and justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud made the comments on April 11 while dismissing a petition filed by Lucknow lawyer Ashok Pande who had sought "transparent" guidelines on allocation of cases and constitution of Benches to hear them. The Bench said the CJI is a high constitutional authority to do both jobs for smooth dispensation of justice.

"There cannot be a presumption of distrust against the CJI in his exclusive prerogative, granted by the Constitution, to set up Benches and allocate cases to judges," Justice DY Chandrachud had said, speaking for the Bench.

Earlier in January, four Supreme Court judges in an unprecedented press conference had released a letter expressing their “anguish about recent judicial orders and erosion in the judicial independence of the Supreme Court”. 

In their letter, they had highlighted the manner in which cases were being assigned by the CJI. “There have been instances where case having far-reaching consequences for the Nation and the institution had been assigned by Chief Justices of this court selectively to benches “of their preference” without any rational basis for such assignment,” the letter read.

In November last year, CJI Misra had formed a five-judge Constitution Bench to declare his position as the "master of the roster."