SC dismisses plea to block Justice Chandrachud's appointment as next CJI

The petition sought contempt proceedings and criminal action against Justice Chandrachud, objected to CJI Lalit hearing the case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition which sought to stop Justice D Y Chandrachud from taking oath as the 50th Chief Justice of India (CJI).

The petition sought contempt of court and criminal action against Justice Chandrachud besides restricting him to be appointed as the next CJI.

A bench of CJI UU Lalit, and Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Bela M Trivedi said the petition was entirely ‘misconceived’.

The petition was filed by lawyer Mursalin Asijit Shaikh who alleged that Justice Chandracud had, on many occasions, willfully disregarded the binding precedents of larger benches of the apex court and denied justice to litigants.

The petition also alleged that Chandrachud had taken up a case related to his son and passed an ex-parte order without informing the respondents in the case or the State government. This issue was also taken up by another person who had filed a complaint before the President of India and the CJI.

An ex-parte order is passed in favour of the petitioner when the defendant is absent.

The plea was filed based on the same complaint and was listed for an urgent hearing on Wednesday morning. The petitioner’s counsel also took objection to CJI Lalit hearing the case since he is the one who recommended the name of Justice Chandracud as the next CJI.

After hearing the arguments, the court said that the orders passed by a judge cannot be grounds to challenge his/her appointment and dismissed the plea.