Anguish at judge event

Chief Justice Dipak Misra

R. Balaji, TT,  Jan 15, 2018, New Delhi: The differences within the judiciary remained unresolved on Monday, although all the 12 courts discharged their duties normally and the Bar Council of India chairman claimed a truce by saying "the story is over now".

One of the judges, Justice Arun Mishra, reportedly turned emotional at an informal meeting of all the 25 Supreme Court judges, expressing anguish over the perceived cost to reputations after last Friday's unprecedented media conference by four senior judges, Justices J. Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B. Lokur and Kurian Joseph.

The informal meeting - a get-together that cannot be considered a full court meeting - abruptly ended after emotions overcame an anguished Justice Mishra, sources told The Telegraph.

The get-together was hosted by Chief Justice Dipak Misra around 10.15am over tea. Chief Justices usually host such informal gatherings over tea on several days, pointed out sources familiar with the precedents of the top court.

According to the sources, Justice Arun Mishra is said to have told the four senior-most judges after the Chief Justice that he had been unnecessarily targeted in the controversy.

The four senior judges had on Friday complained about the Chief Justice's allocation of cases, inferring that one of them related to the death of special CBI judge B.H. Loya. The death had drawn intense attention as the judge was earlier dealing with a fake encounter case in which BJP leader Amit Shah was subsequently discharged.

The Loya case was listed on Friday last before a bench of Justice Arun Mishra.

Justice Arun Mishra is said to have told Monday's gathering that despite his ill health, he had been diligently and sincerely discharging a large number of cases allocated to him by successive Chief Justices from 2010 when Justice H.L. Dattu was the CJI.

He told the meeting that not only Justice Dattu but also his successors, including Justices T.S. Thakur and J.S. Khehar, had entrusted him with complex and important cases. "I have been overburdened with work and I never complained despite my ill health," a source quoted Justice Arun Mishra as telling the gathering of judges.

Justice Arun Mishra is said to have pointed out that in the past three months, he had set a record by dealing with 4,000 cases in spite of his indifferent health.

Several other judges present at the meeting mostly remained silent and sympathetic towards Justice Arun Mishra, a source said. He is understood to have told the four senior judges that he had been wrongly defamed in the eyes of the public.

The Chief Justice is said to have escorted the emotional judge from the meeting and tried to mollify him.

Thereafter, there was a discussion among the other judges over Friday's development. A general view emerged that whatever the differences, the appearance before the media over intra-judiciary disputes could have been avoided, a source said.

The sources added that both sides were sticking to their respective positions.

However, Bar Council chairman Mannan Kumar Mishra claimed the controversy had been resolved internally. " Kahani khatam ho gaya (the story is over)," he added. The Bar Council is a regulatory body for advocates. The attorney-general more or less echoed the council chief.