Unbriddled Power Of CJI As Master Of Roster, A Matter Of Concern

SENIOR ADVOCATE MUKUL ROHTAGI CONCURRED WITH SENIOR ADVOCATE KAPIL SIBAL, WHILE SAYING THAT THE UNBRIDDLED POWER OF CJI AS THE MASTER OF ROSTER IS A MATTER OF CONCERN.

WHAT IS MASTER OF ROSTER AND ITS POWERS

• Shanti Bhushan v. Supreme Court of India (WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.789 OF 2018).
• This 2018 case is popularly called the “Master of Roster" case.
• In this, the Petitioner Shanti Bhushan (former Law Minister) challenged the unbridled powers of CJI and CJ of various High Courts in deciding and allocating the cases to be heard.
• The Petitioner suggested that there should be a collegium of 5 Judges to among whom the powers to decide and allocate cases should be divided.
• The 2 Judge’s Bench comprising of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan rejected the plea and held that CJI (and CJs) alone is the Master of Roster.

WHAT IS MASTER OF ROSTER AND ITS POWERS

• The Bench made it clear that a Chief Justice occupies role of first among equals and has exclusive duty of allocating cases.
• The CJI alone represents the Judges of Supreme Court and has exclusive power to decide what matter should be listed and to allocate them to Judges.
• When asked for opinion, Attorney General also said that setting a Five Judge collegium and diving the powers would lead to unnecessary chaos and that there might not be consensus among the Judges.

WORDS OF SR. ADVOCATES SIBAL AND ROHTAGI

• Both Sibal and Rohtagi were giving addresses in launch event of the book “In Pursuit of Justice – An Autobiography" by late Justice Rajindar Sachar.
• In his address, Kapil Sibal pointed out that he has been raising this problem since years.
• He pointed out the practical problems of how the CJI aloe has the power to determine if Court should function during vacation or whether an urgent matter should be taken up immediately or not, called it a flaw in the system that needs to be corrected.
• Mukul Rohtagi, in his address, concurred with Sibal, and said that the CJI has the unbridled power to decide which cases should be heard first and which later.
• He suggested that uniform rules should be laid down regarding this.

SLIDE 5

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