SC should never be chief justice-centric: CJI Gavai

Chief Justice of India (CJI) B R Gavai on Wednesday said the Supreme Court should never be a “chief justice-centric court” as the chief justice was only the first among equals.

The CJI also said he has always considered the bar and the bench to be “equal stakeholders” in the institution of administration of justice.

He was speaking at a function organised here by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) to felicitate him.

“I believe that the chief justice is only the first among equals and the Supreme Court should never be a chief justice-centric court,” the CJI said. He said the apex court has to be a court of all the judges and members of the bar. “And therefore, I believe in a democratic functioning. So whatever decisions we take are the decisions of the full court,” he said.

The CJI said the apex court has had the highest number of disposals during the partial working days from May 26 to July 11 in the last so many years. The top court had rechristened its traditional summer vacations as “partial court working days” this year. “I must say that with the cooperation of all of you and my colleagues, we have had the highest number of disposals during partial working days in the last so many years,” the CJI said in his address.

He said the members of the bar have always given him a lot of love and affection. “As a matter of fact, I have always considered the bar and the bench to be equal stakeholders in the institution of administration of justice,” the CJI said, adding they were like two wheels of a golden chariot of the institution of administration of justice. Attorney General R Venkataramani and SCBA president Vikas Singh also addressed the gathering.