If Chief Justice does not hand over the case then hearing should be avoided: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has said that if the Chief Justice has not assigned a case to a judge, then he should refrain from hearing it, because otherwise the roster made by the Chief Justice will have no meaning. A bench led by Justice AS Oka said that judges should not hear any case unless it is assigned to them under the roster or is specifically sent for hearing by the Chief Justice. The Supreme Court has made this comment during the hearing of the petition filed against the decision of the Rajasthan High Court.

Why so much emphasis on roster system?
There has already been controversy over which case should go to which judge. For the first time it came in the public domain on 12 January 2018. Four senior judges had said in a press conference that everything is not going well in the Supreme Court. After this, the then Chief Justice Deepak Mishra had implemented the roster system. Under this, the Chief Justice decides which case should go to which judge. At present, there is a fixed process for listing of new cases from June 29. Under this, there is no need for the lawyer to separately mention the cases before the court for listing them. The Supreme Court’s comment is important in the present case. This will strengthen the roster system.