India's democracy is in danger, says SC Judge J Chelameswar

In an unprecedented move, Justice J Chelameswar and three other judges of the Supreme Court held a press conference in New Delhi on Friday where they spoke against the Chief Justice of India, saying that events in the Supreme Court left them with no choice but to address the nation.

The other judges involved included Justice Madan Lokur, Justice Kurien Joseph and Justice Ranjan Gogoi.The conference was held at Justice J Chelameswar residence, however, the Chief Justice of India was not present.

Addressing the media, Justice Chelameshwar said the administration of Supreme Court is not in order. He said that as senior members of the court, they believed they hold the responsibility to the nation to the institution.

Speaking further, he stated that they collectively tried to persuade CJI to take steps but failed and added that the democracy won’t survive in India unless the institution of Supreme Court is preserved.

In response to a question on whether the CJI should be impeached, Justice Chelameshwar said that is up to the nation to decide.

Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that the press conference is not a sign of protest, but a sign of their responsibility towards the nation while Justice Madan Lokur stated that none of them are breaking any ranks.

On being quizzed whether their disapproval is in connection with the case regarding CBI Judge BH Loya, Justice Ranjan Gogoi said there is an issue of assignment of a case which is raised in the letter to CJI.

While they refrained from mentioning the details of the cases stated in the letter, the four Judges said that the cases with far-reaching consequences for the nation were assigned to benches of their choice without any reasoning.