Dipak Misra, the Chief Justice of India who reserved the best for the last
Published on: 3 October 2018, 08:35 am
The arduous journey marred by unprecedented controversies of Justice Dipak Misra as the 45th Chief Justice of India (CJI) has finally come to end. His tenure as the CJI has its fair share of departures from established conventions. At the same time, his role as the Master of Roster needs to be equally questioned. His confused approach on free speech must be called out. He equally deserves appreciation for abiding by the convention of the seniority in recommending name of his successor.
In this piece, I would examine his role both as the (just retired) Chief Justice of India being the head of the institution, and the CJI as the first amongst the equals — nothing more and nothing less.
Role as administrative head of the institution
Transparency in Collegium
The institution of the Collegium has been beyond public scrutiny. Secrecy had been the norm. One did not know who was being recommended and when by the Supreme Court's Collegium. Nothing official used to be made available until Collegium headed by CJI Dipak Misra decided on October 3, 2017 to make public by uploading on the Supreme Court website the resolution of the Collegium recommending names of candidates for elevation to the High Court and the Supreme Court and transfer of judges to one High Court to another. It took more than 20 years for the Collegium (it came into existence in 1993) to understand that the people of this country have a right to know every public act, everything, that is done in a public way, by their public functionaries — exactly what the very same Supreeme Court held in State of U.P. vs. Raj Narain. Opaqueness of the Collegium's proceedings have always been under criticism from different quarters, including the then sitting judge and Collegium member Justice J Chelameswar; however, no predecessors of Justice Dipak Misra could pay heed to any such criticism. They did not give two hoots about transparency and people's right to know. It was only CJI Dipak Misra who rose to the occasion and decided to publish resolutions of the Collegium.
“It took more than 20 years for the Collegium (it came into existence in 1993) to understand that the people of this country have a right to know every public act, everything, that is done in a public way, by their public functionaries — exactly what the very same Supreeme Court held in State of U.P. vs. Raj Narain