CJI has to name a successor: Ravi Shankar Prasad
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New Delhi: Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Monday that citizens need not doubt the government’s intention in appointing the next Chief Justice of India (CJI).
CJI Dipak Misra is set to retire in October this year, and as per convention, will recommend his successor’s name to the government for appointment.
Justice Ranjan Gogoi, the second seniormost judge of the Court is in line to be the next Chief Justice of India.
Justice Gogoi was one of the four senior judges of the Supreme Court who had held an unprecedented press conference in January this year. The judges had expressed multiple reservations with regard to the way in which the Supreme Court was functioning.
In this background, doubts have been expressed to whether CJI Misra and the government will endorse the name of Justice Gogoi being the next CJI.
Speaking at a press meet held to highlight the achievements of the Modi government today, Law Minister Prasad said, “Let me first say that this question about appointment is hypothetical. There is a convention in place. The sitting CJI has to forward the name of his successor. Let that name come first…There is no reason to doubt our intentions.”
"As per the convention, the sitting CJI sends the name of the senior-most judge to us. As and when we get the name, we will discuss it."
Current CJI Dipak Misra has ample time to recommend his successor, and given Prasad’s statement, the government will not attempt to put a spanner in the works.
There were only two instances in the past when the senior most judge of the Apex Court was superseded. In 1973, the Indira Gandhi government appointed Justice AN Ray as Chief Justice, overlooking three other judges who were senior to Ray. This was read as in response to the judgment of the three judges in the landmark judgment in Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala.
In 1977, Justice HR Khanna who penned the legendary dissent against the Union government in ADM Jabalpur v. Shiv Kant Shukla was superseded and Justice MH Begwas appointed CJI.