The Supreme Court on Monday re-kindled the ghosts of past, invoking the memory of an unprecedented press conference held jointly by four its senior most judges in January 2018 to complain of practices in the court which, according to them, threatened judicial independence and the future of democracy.
“We hope it was the first and the last occasion that judges have gone to the Press,” a three-judge Bench led Justice Arun Mishra observed in its judgment punishing civil rights lawyer Prashant Bhushan for contempt.
Mr. Bhushan had referred to the January 12, 2018 presser held by Justices J. Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B. Lokur and Kurian Joseph (all of whom have since retired). Justice Gogoi, who was judge number three at the time, went on to become the Chief Justice of India when the incumbent, Justice Dipak Misra, demitted office.
The judges had indicated then that the allocation of the Judge Loya death case to a Bench led by Justice Mishra was the immediate trigger for the press meet. The Justice Mishra Bench later recused itself from the case. The ripples of the “extraordinary” press conference had lasted for months.
The judgment on Monday, authored by Justice Mishra, pointed to an internal mechanism to deal with grievances against judges. This mechanism is intended to protect the dignity of “sufferer judges”.
Judges cannot take to the public forum to answer allegations made against them. This handicap, imposed by their code of conduct, however, causes them suffering till eternity”, the judgment said.
“Truth can be the defence to the judges also, but they are bound by their judicial norms, ethics and code of conduct,” the judgment said.