Advocate Prashant Bhushan has expressed concerns to the Supreme Court’s Registry regarding the unexpected removal of petitions from the causelist. These petitions, challenging the Central Government’s delay in judicial appointments, were notably absent from the list despite a judicial order specifying a hearing date. In a letter dated December 8th, Bhushan, representing the Centre For Public Interest Litigation since 2018 in this significant case, sought clarification for this unusual action.
On December 5th, Bhushan had orally mentioned to the bench, comprising Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia, about the deletion of the matter from the list. Although initially included in the causelist for December 5th, the petitions were later removed. In response to Bhushan’s remarks, Justice Kaul had said,
“I am sure the Chief Justice is aware of it,”
and clarified,
“It is not that I have deleted the matter or that I am unwilling to take the matter. Both.”
In his letter, Bhushan emphasized the gravity of the situation, stating,
“Representing the petitioners since 2018 in this important case seeking accountability of the executive in matters of judicial appointments impinging upon the independence of the judiciary, this seemed extremely unusual, especially since the deletion was without the knowledge of the presiding senior judge and in violation of a judicial order.”
He highlighted that the bench had given a specific date for the hearing, as it had been issuing a series of orders for the Union Government’s compliance in matters related to judicial appointments and was monitoring progress in a time-bound manner.
Bhushan pointed out that according to the Handbook on Practice & Procedure and Office Procedure, 2017, based on the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, a published cause list cannot be changed. He argued that any deviation from this rule should only occur with special orders from the Chief Justice. If a case set for a specific date could not be listed, instructions should be obtained from the presiding judge, in this case, Justice Kaul.
Bhushan’s letter expressed concern over the registry’s actions, stating,
“This matter reflects grave impropriety by the registry in deleting the case from the cause list, despite a judicial order to the contrary, directing that the case be listed on a fixed date, that is 5.12.2023.”
He further noted that Justice Kaul was completely unaware of the non-listing of the case, making the deviation from the rules and procedures more serious and peculiar.
This incident comes amid other concerns raised by Bhushan and Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave regarding the Supreme Court’s listing procedures and transparency in handling sensitive cases. Bhushan had previously written to the Registry about the ‘arbitrary’ listing of matters before a bench led by Justice Bela Trivedi, and Dave had written an open letter to Chief Justice DY Chandrachud about changes in benches for ‘sensitive matters’, urging the rectification of errors in listing. These developments highlight ongoing issues related to the management of cases and the transparency of processes within the Supreme Court’s Registry.
