The Supreme Court of India has underlined in its statement that the Chief Justice is undoubtedly the "master of roster" and has the power to assign cases. The top court was delivering a ruling in a petition that seeks to remove the power of the Chief Justice to assign cases to the bench and demanded the same to the Collegium.
The former law minister and senior lawyer Shanti Bhushan had filed a petition seeking clarification over the power of the Chief Justice in assigning cases to the bench and his role as "master of roster".
"The Chief Justice (CJI) has the role of first among equals and is empowered to exercise leadership in administration of the court which includes assignment of cases," said Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan, confirming the verdict by two previous benches.
Justice AK Sikri has delivered the verdict in the petition filed by Shanti Bhushan through his son Prashant Bhushan. The four senior most judges in the Supreme court had earlier publicly protested against the Chief Justice Dipak Misra in January over the issue of splitting of cases.
