This morning, before they sat down in their respective courtrooms, four of the senior-most judges of the Supreme Court of India met the chief justice, Dipak Misra. “For some time, the administration of the Supreme Court is not in order. There are many things which are less than desirable which have happened in the last few months,” Jasti Chelameswar, the senior-most among the four, later said during a press conference. He sat beside the other three judges—Ranjan Gogoi, Kurian Joseph and Madan Lokur. “We thought we owed a responsibility to the nation. We tried to collectively persuade the chief justice that certain things are not in order and therefore you should take remedial measures,” Chelameswar continued. “Unfortunately, our efforts failed.”
“All four of us are convinced,” he added, “that unless this institution is preserved and it maintains its equanimity, democracy will not survive in this country.”
Speaking for the four judges, Chelameshwar made clear that while their differences with the chief justice go back a few months, they had gone to meet him this morning “with a specific request.” When asked if the request pertained to petitions seeking an independent investigation into the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of the judge BH Loya in 2014—which were listed to be heard before lunch today—Gogoi, who is expected to be appointed the CJI later this year, answered: “Yes.”
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