Supreme Court Rebuke of Allahabad High Court Judge Raises Questions

• The Supreme Court criticized an Allahabad High Court judge for an “absurd” order, raising questions about the power of the top court to intervene in the exclusive “master of roster” powers of the Chief Justice of a State High Court.

• The order directed Chief Justice Arun Bhansali to pair Justice Kumar with a “seasoned senior judge” in a Division Bench and to prevent Justice Kumar from being assigned a criminal roster until he demitted office.

• The Supreme Court’s order did not challenge the power of Chief Justice Bhansali as “master of roster” of his High Court.

• The Supreme Court’s 2004 judgment in the case of Tirupati Balaji Developers confirmed the exclusive authority of a High Court Chief Justice to master his court’s roster.

• The’master of roster’ dictum is essential to maintain judicial discipline and decorum, especially after an unprecedented press conference in January 2018 insinuating selective allocation of’sensitive’ cases by the then Chief Justice of India