Above: Justice Jasti Chelameswar (file picture)
When Justice Jasti Chelameswar, the second senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, sent a letter (dated March 21) to Chief Justice Dipak Misra, asking for a full court hearing on the issue of the executive’s continual interference in the judiciary, all hell broke loose. The issue has emanated from the decision for a probe that Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari had ordered regarding a subordinate judge, heeding to a probe by the executive and bypassing the Supreme Court’s authority.
Justice Chelameswar considered this as an affront and has said that it would be necessary to take the issue head on to keep the judiciary in its preeminent position.
Read the full letter here.