Differences seem to have appeared among the top office bearers in the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on Wednesday over the stand taken by it on a 'resolution' concerning statements made by Justice Arun Mishra about Prime Minister Narendra Modi at International Judicial Conference-2020 last week.
Shortly after SCBA President Dushyant Dave issued a 'resolution', allegedly signed by several members of the lawyers' body expressing anguish and concern over the statements of Justice Mishra, the general secretary Ashok Arora of the association claimed that "no resolution has been passed" as he has not signed the statement released to the media.
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Arora said, "There was no executive council or general body meeting of the Association. The President has taken an arbitrary dictatorial and irresponsible stand. He cannot speak on behalf of SCBA without calling general body meeting or meeting of the executive council on such a serious issue".
Arora told PTI that all the communication to the media is to be sent through the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), who is general secretary of the SCBA.
"It is not a resolution in the eyes of law because it was not signed by me," he said, adding that Dave has made available to media a circular which contained suggestions of only six to seven members.
In a communication sent to the media, the SCBA had said, it has taken note "with deep sense of anguish and concern", the statement made by Justice Mishra.
"The SCBA expresses its strong reservations of the aforesaid statement and condemns the same strongly. The SCBA believes that the independence of the judiciary is the basic structure under the Constitution of India and that such independence be preserved in letter and spirit," the SCBA statement had said.
It said that SCBA believes that any such statements reflects "poorly on the independence of the judiciary and so calls upon the judges not to make statements in future nor show any proximity or closeness to the executive including higher functionaries".
The lawyers' body of the apex court said, "The SCBA also believes that such proximity and familiarity may impact the decision making process by the judges and may give rise to justifiable doubts in the minds of the litigants about the outcome".
It said that the association reaffirms its faith in the Constitution of India and independence of the judiciary and calls upon all concerned in the administration of justice to work for the same in letter and spirit.
On February 22, Justice Mishra was all praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and termed him as an "internationally acclaimed visionary" and a "versatile genius, who thinks globally and acts locally".
Complimenting the PM and Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad for doing away with 1,500 obsolete laws, Justice Mishra said India is a responsible and most friendly member of the international community under the "stewardship" of Modi.
Delivering the vote of thanks at the inaugural function of the International Judicial Conference 2020 - 'Judiciary and the Changing World' at the Supreme Court, he said challenges faced by the judiciary at the national and international levels are common and judiciary has a "significant role" in the ever-changing world.
"Dignified human existence is our prime concern. We thank the versatile genius, who thinks globally and acts locally, Shri Narendra Modi, for his inspiring speech which would act as a catalyst in initiating the deliberations and setting the agenda for the conference," Justice Mishra, who is third in seniority in the apex court, said while expressing gratitude to the PM for inaugurating the conference.
He said India is the biggest democracy in the world and "people wonder how this democracy is functioning so successfully".
"India is a responsible and most friendly member of the international community under the stewardship of internationally acclaimed visionary Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi," he said.
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