New Delhi: A plea filed challenging the appointment of Justice Ranjan Gogoi as the next Chief Justice of India will be heard by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud directed the petitioner advocate R P Luthra to file the concerned mentioning memo before the court master.
The Petitioner, Mr. Luthra, had mentioned the matter before the bench and said that the court needs to fix a date for hearing on an urgent basis. “You wait and see. You give the mentioning memo, we will see to it,” the bench said.
Mr. Luthra along with petitioner advocate Satyaveer Sharma had said in their plea they want adjudication of the question of law for which they are depending on the contents of the press conference of January 12, which was called by four senior judges (Justices Chelameswar (since retd), Ranjan Gogoi, Kurian Joseph, and Madan B Lokur) of the top court.
The plea further said that they were relying on a letter which has got no date and was addressed to Chief Justice of India and circulated by the four apex court judges.
“This act of the four senior most judges of the court was not less than a sabotage to the judicial system of the country. They tried to arouse public furore in the country in the names of certain internal differences in this court,” the plea said.
It said that “the petitioners are aggrieved of the actions and omissions on the part of respondent 1 (Union of India) and respondent 2 (Chief Justice of India), which has resulted into appointment of respondent 3 (Justice Ranjan Gogoi) as the Chief Justice of India instead of reprimanding him for his illegal and anti-institutional act”.
The petition read that both the acts of Respondent 1 and Respondent 2 “is illegal and unconstitutional and also against the canons of law because the appointment on the highest post of the judiciary has been awarded to a person who is guilty of committing judicial impropriety and judicial misconduct”.
With effect from October 3, the plea also sought the declaration of the order of appointment of Justice Ranjan Gogoi as the Chief Justice of India.
The retiring Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra, had appointed Justice Gogoi as the 46th Chief Justice of India on September 3. The latter will take oath on October 3 as soon as Dipak Misra retires.
If he attains the post, Justice Gogoi will be the first Chief Justice of India from the state of Assam. The order to appoint Gogoi as the Chief Justice of India came within 10 days after Chief Justice Dipak Misra recommended his name as the successor after him.
Then, Justice Gogoi will serve as the Chief Justice of India for a period of 13 months until he retires on November 17, 2019.
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