Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra met with his four senior-most colleagues on Thursday in a second round of discussions of the issues raised by them at a press conference on January 12.
Chief Justice Misra and Justices Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B. Lokur and Kurian Joseph had met earlier on January 16.
Thursday’s meeting was held in the CJI’s chamber before the day’s court sittings began.
At the press meet, the four judges had primarily raised issues like allocation of sensitive cases of national importance by the Chief Justice to “preferred Benches.”
The discussions are likely to continue.
Shortly after court started in the morning, an oral mentioning was made by advocate Ashutosh Dubey before a Bench of Chief Justice Misra, Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud to stop the media from reporting the “subject matter” of the January 12 press conference.
Mr. Dubey asked the Bench to pass a judicial order but Chief Justice Misra refused his plea.
The Chief Justice had taken the initiative on January 16 to meet his four colleagues and break the ice.
The Chief Justice and the four judges form the Supreme Court Collegium, which make important recommendations like appointments and transfer of judges in the Supreme Court and the various high courts.
The second round of talks were supposed to continue on January 17 but did not happen as Justice Chelameswar was on leave.
In the first discussion, Chief Justice Misra had met the four judges over a cup of tea, during which they exchanged mutual concern about the “judicial institution.”
“Everything cannot be expected to be resolved in just one session,” the source close to the four said.
