SC LIVE: Judge Loya's Death Must Be Investigated By Top SC Judges, Says Rahul Gandhi​

LIVE FROM CONGRESS HQ: Congress leaders address a press conference on SC crisis in New Delhi. Top party leaders Manish Tewari, Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram and Randeep Surjewala are present at the press conference.

Venugopal, who had a meeting with Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra after the press conference expressed hope that all judges, including the CJI, would rise to the occasion and

A Judge is Like a Hermit, But Even a Hermit has to See What is Happening Around Him

AG K K VENUGOPAL REACTS: Attorney General K K Venugopal on Friday said the unprecedented move by the four senior Supreme Court judges in holding a press conference "could have been avoided" and the judges would now have to act in "statesmanship" to ensure complete harmony."This is what all of us at the bar want and I am sure that the judges, including the CJI, will rise to the occasion," he said, but declined to come out with details of his deliberations with the CJI and others. I had promised to the judges that I would not speak to the media," Venugopal said.

Prior to being named to the Supreme Court, Justice Chelameswar served as the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court from May 2007 to March 2010 and Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court from March 2010 to October 2011.

UJJWAL NIKAM ON SC CRISIS: I am totally disappointed by today's act. The faith of common man on SC is lost. This should not be treated as an example by lower judiciary like session’s court & high court. I agree that their grievances are of very serious nature...But this is not the right way to resolve a crisis...They should have addressed the issues to President of India, says special public prosecutor Nikam.

Maharashtra-based journalist BR Lone filed an independent plea seeking a fair probe into the mysterious death of Loya, who was hearing the sensitive Sohrabuddin encounter case - in which various police officers and BJP President Amit Shah were named as parties.

SHASHI THAROOR TO CNN-NEWS 18: Politicians must refrain from commenting on the conduct of the judiciary as it is unconstitutional...but it's fair to point out that there have been lapses on part of the government also. When doubt is cast on the judiciary, people would be concerned. Hope that CJI Dipak Misra and judges will resolve this issue and government also does not delay appointment of judges. Politicians have their part to play...The solution has to come from within the judiciary itself...If public loses faith in judiciary, democracy would not survive. I worry about preserving our judiciary. Democracy is biggest strength in our country...For that we need strong judiciary.

Delhi: Congress leaders and senior advocates Salman Khurshid, Manish Tewari and P Chidambaram also arrive at Rahul Gandhi's residence. #SupremeCourt pic.twitter.com/6CS3BqJfNJ

— ANI (@ANI) January 12, 2018

D RAJA ON MEETING JUSTICE CHELAMESWAR: "Have known Justice Chelameswar for a long time. When I came to know about the extraordinary step taken by him and other judges, I thought I must meet him. I am not giving it a political colour. These are concerns for everybody, it’s about future of country and democracy...I went to meet him to find out the real problem and he discussed the problem with me...As a political person, I have to think why this is happening in our country. However, Parliament is supreme in our democracy. In such a situation, Parliament will have to debate this mater and sort out problems by meaningful suggestion," says D Raja.

This is an unfortunate incident. These things should not have been spoken in public...credibility of an institution like Supreme Court could be eroded, says Former Chief Justice of India KG Balakarishnan.

We should also hear the verdict of CJI Dipak Misra...These four judges are also sober...The CJI assigns subject matter to the judges but there is a convention in which senior judges hear important cases. The current AG must take help from former AGs and hold dialogue with the judges and resolve this issue...Ideal situation is that the CJI must speak with these judges and resolve this issue, says retired chief justice of Punjab and Haryana, High Court Justice Mukul Mudgal.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday took to Twitter to expresses her views on the Supreme Court issue. She wrote: We are deeply anguished with the developments today about the apex court. What we are getting from the statement of the four senior hon'ble judges of Supreme Court about the affairs of the court makes us really sad as citizens...Judiciary and media are the pillars of democracy. Extreme interference of Central government in the internal matter of judiciary is dangerous for democracy.

Judiciary must be kept independent.In a democracy, it is the responsibility of government to make sure things function smoothly. This is entirely the responsibility of Law Ministry to see that judiciary carries out its responsibility property. This incident is very unfortunate and government must take steps to restore confidence of the people in judiciary, says former law minister H R Bhardwaj

Communist Party of India leader D. Raja meets Justice Chelameswar while Congress is likely to hold a press conference at 6.30 pm over Supreme Court crisis: Sources

Threat for judiciary is not from outside but from within...Now people will raise questions. Faith in the Supreme Court must be restored ...Government alone cannot solve this problem. It has to be resolved by the judges themselves. All the four judges must sit together...All this needs to be restored and repaired and the SC should get back the confidence of the people, says former Judge of the Supreme Court of India Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly.

Twenty-five of the 31 Supreme Court judges meet the four dissenting judges who addressed the media this morning, reports Utkarsh Anand, Legal Editor, CNN-News18.

EXCERPT FROM THE LETTER: The letter that the four Supreme Court judges wrote to CJI Dipak Misra read: "We are not mentioning details only to avoid embarrassing the institution but note that such departures have already damaged the image of this institution to some extent."

Senior lawyer Salman Khurshid voices concern, says, “The judiciary is divided everywhere but that does not lead to a permanent divide among judges. I hope the government does not interfere in the matter and this has to be sorted by the court.”

Damage done to the office of Chief Justice of India: Shreehari Aney, former Maharashtra Advocate General.

#EXCLUSIVE | I agree, some damage has been done to the office of Chief Justice of India (CJI), but this is not a permanent damage: Shreehari Aney, Ex-Maharashtra Advocate General, tells @bhupendrachaube | #SCJudgesMutiny pic.twitter.com/o0HE3hZg67

— News18 (@CNNnews18) January 12, 2018

Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly: The CJI should exercise his power in a manner that inspires confidence in the system... allegations against the Chief Justice are very grave. The government should try to talk to the judges and evolve a consensus... this problem cannot be allowed to continue for too long. People have a right to ensure that the Supreme Court functions properly as democracy depends on the Supreme Court.

Attorney General KK Venugopal met CJI Dipak Misra but chose not to comment on the four judges’ unparalleled media address, reports CNN-News18’s Legal Editor Utkarsh Anand.

Never in the history of the Supreme Court, except during emergency and Indira Gandhi's time, has there been such interference by the executive.

Former Chief Justice of India, KG Balakrishnan says, "It is an unfortunate incident. These things should not have been said in public. I am worried because people have certain faith on the institution and it is likely to be eroded to some extent. I am sad about the loss of credibility of this great institution. I hope this is settled. There is no authority superior to the Supreme Court and no one can advice these judges." -- reports Neethu Reghukumar.

Supreme Court bar association to hold a meeting tomorrow and take stock of the situation. Supreme Court Bar Association President, Vikrant Yadav said, “We will have a meeting tomorrow and then make an official statement.”

SWAMY SPEAKS | BJP leader Subramanian Swamy weighs in on the controversy. Swamy said, “We can't criticise them, they are men of great integrity and have sacrificed a lot of their legal career, where they could've made money as senior counsels. We must respect them. PM must ensure that the four judges and the CJI, in fact whole Supreme Court come to one opinion and proceed further.”

"There must be some serious reason that they were left with no other option but to hold a press conference. But what connection Loya has with this? I know nothing about this and I don't want to make comments about any political matter," said Mukul Mudgal, retired HC judge, as reported by ANI.

CONGRESS REACTS | The Congress has reacted saying "democracy is in danger" after four seniormost Supreme Court judges came out in the open to say that the situation in the apex court was "not in order". "We are very concerned to hear 4 judges of the Supreme Court expressed concerns about the functioning of the Supreme Court. #DemocracyInDanger," the Congress' official Twitter handle said.

Top government sources told News18 that the government is likely to distance itself from the crisis, in the hope that the judges will be able to sort it among themselves.

NO SPECIAL HEARING | Sources in Supreme Court say there will be no press conference or special hearing by CJI Dipak Misra as was being reported earlier. So far, there has been no response by the CJI to the four judges’ press conference today. CJI Dipak Misra calls for regular matter for hearing.