Thread by @jain_mehal

Harvard club of India event at the Constitution Club of India- Supreme Court Justice J. Chelameswar in conversation with acclaimed journalist Karan Thapar on the ‘Role of Judiciary in a Democracy’- to begin shortly @LiveLawIndia

Mr. Anirudh Suri, President, Harvard Club of India; Mr. Shadan Farasat, Secretary open the discussion @LiveLawIndia

Karan thapar- one to one interview with Justic Chelameswar, on subjects including inter alia letter addressed to the Chief Justice in November, 2017; elevation of Justice K. M. Joseph and Senior Advocate Indu Malhotra as SC judge @LiveLawIndia

KT- do you believe SC made serious error in striking down NJAC

Justice Chelameswar- “I don’t believe judgments of the SC are synonymous with the truth” @LiveLawIndia

KT- present struggle between the collegium and the government on the MoP, in context of the letter of November, 2017 @LiveLawIndia

KT- elevation of Uttarakhand Chief Justice K. M. Joseph to the SC; SC website regards him as worthier than most other Chief Justices; is it not strange that the collegium sitting over it for 2 months @LiveLawIndia

KT- we can interpret your silences and your “hmm”s

Justice Chelameswar- “after retirement i will not seek any employment under any government “ @livelawindia

Justice Chelameswar- Prasad Educational trust matter; “matter required hearing by a constitutional bench” @LiveLawIndia

KT- charge that CJ appointing benches of preference was a charge akin to dynamite
Justice Chelameswar- do not want to comment
KT- can i suggest a case? how about Jayalalitha’s case
Justice Chelameswar- let us not go into the reasons for the allocation

KT- assignment of judge Loya case to Justice Arun Mishra’s bench...the judges press conference on January 12 was said to have been triggered thereby
Justice Chelameswar- we did not say anything on that; power to appoint benches must not be exercised arbitrarily @LiveLawIndia

KT- are you saying CJI assigns cases to benches that he knows will pass the verdict he wants
Justice Chelameswar- is this a question or a statement (laughter)...what is the basis on which these sensitive matters are allocated? @LiveLawIndia

KT- the appointment of these preferential benches is undermining the trust of the people in the judiciary?
Justice Chelameswar- I believe so @LiveLawIndia

KT- are preferential benches chosen to benefit the government?
Justice Chelameswar- I am not answering this question
KT- silenc can be interpreted in several ways @LiveLawIndia

KT- do we have sufficient grounds for impeachment of the CJI
Justice Chelameswar- I don’t why everyone is obsessed with his impeachment.we wrote the judgment in Justice Karnan’s case but impeachment is not the answer to everything.we need to correct the system @LiveLawIndia

KT- CJI has begun publishing the resolutions of the collegium, but all PILs are also being listed before his bench
Justice Chelameswar- he is the master of the roster; if the CJI wishes to handle most cases, he is entitled to @LiveLawIndia

KT- do you feel the CJI keep important matters away from you?
Justice Chelameswar- I am more concerned about my contributions @LiveLawIndia

KT- are at all apprehensive that Justice Gogoi, co-author of the November, 2017 letter and part of the January 12 press conference, may get superseded?
Justice Chelameswar- I am not an astrologer...I hope it does not happen @LiveLawIndia

Justice Chelameswar- when you are a public servant, you cannot avoid criticism. But we four judges did not feel we were violating any principles in holding the press conference @LiveLawIndia

Correction: KT- elevation of Uttarakhand Chief Justice K. M. Joseph to the SC; collegium resolution on SC website regards him as worthier than most other Chief Justices; is it not strange that *the government has been sitting over it for 2 months @LiveLawIndia