New Delhi, Jan 12: In an unprecedented move, four senior-most judges of Supreme Court after the Chief Justice of India (CJI) – Justice J Chelameswar, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Madan Lokur and Justice Kurian Joseph – addressed the nation through a press conference. Speaking to media, Justice J Chelameshwar said the administration of the Supreme Court is not in order.
“With no pleasure, we are compelled take the decision to call a press conference. The administration of the Supreme Court is not in order and many things which are less than desirable have happened in last few months,” Justice Chelameswar said at the historic press conference. “We collectively tried to persuade CJI that certain things aren’t in order so take remedial measures but unfortunately our efforts failed,” he added.
Below is the brief profile of four the Supreme Court judges:
Justice Jasti Chelameswar: Born on June 23 in 1953, Justice Chelameswar is the number 2 judge in the Supreme Court. He studied upto Class XII at Hindu High School at Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh. He had graduated in Science (Physics) at Madras Loyola College and in Law from Andhra University in 1976.
Justice Chelameswar was designated as Senior Counsel in the year 1995. He was elevated as Additional Judge of High Court of Andhra Pradesh in 1997 and as Judge in 1999. He was further elevated as Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court in 2007. In 2010, Justice Chelameswar was transferred to Kerala High Court. He was sent as Judge to the Supreme Court on 10th October 2011.
Justice Ranjan Gogoi: Born on November 18 in 1954, Justice Gogoi joined the Bar in 1978. He was appointed as Permanent Judge of Gauhati High Court in February 2001. In 2010, he was transferred to Punjab & Haryana High Court. He was later appointed as Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court on February 12 in 2011. He was elevated as Judge of the Supreme Court on 23rd April in 2012.
Justice Madan Lokur: Born on December 31 in 1953, Justice Lokur studied in Modern School 1968 and thereafter passed ISCE examination in 1970-71 from St. Josephs Collegiate in Allahabad. He obtained LL.B. degree from Delhi University in 1977. Enrolled as an Advocate in 1997, he practised in the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court. He was designated as Senior Advocate in February 1997 and appointed as Additional Solicitor General of India on 14th July 1998 and continued as such till appointed as an Additional Judge of Delhi High Court on 19th February 1999.
Justice Lokur functioned as Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court from 24th June 2010 to 14th November 2011 and Chief Justice of High Court of Andhra Pradesh from 15th November 2011 to 3rd June 2012. He was appointed as Judge of the Supreme Court on 4th Jun 2012.
Justice Kurian Joseph: Born in November 1953, Justice Joseph began legal practice in 1979 in the High Court of Kerala. He was appointed as Government Pleader in 1987, Additional Advocate General (1994-96) and designated Senior Advocate in 1996. He was elevated as Judge, High Court of Kerala on July 12 in 2000. Served twice as Acting Chief Justice of the High Court of Kerala. he was appointed as Chief Justice of High Court of Himachal Pradesh in 2010 and served till 2013. He was elevated as Judge to the Supreme Court on March 8 in 2013.