Chief Justice is master of roster : Supreme Court
New Delhi, July 6 : The Supreme Court on Friday reiterated that the Chief Justice alone was the "master of roster" and have powers to allocate cases to different benches.
It also cautioned against any "tinkering" as it could hurt the independence of the judiciary.
"Although the Constitution is silent on the role of the Chief Justice as 'master of roster' but it is based on healthy practice to maintain the discipline and decorum of the court," said Justice A.K.Sikri.
Justice Ashok Bhushan in a concurring but separate judgement said that it is difficult to accept the interpretation that the CJI means entire collegium. Such an interpretation would make day to day functioning difficult."
Both Justice Sikri and Justice Bhushan rejected the plea that the Supreme Court should adopt some of the practices prevailing in the top courts of other countries.
They said that there could not be a "mechanical imitation" or import of practices prevailing in the courts overseas but admitted that there was scope for improvement which they said was always happening.
The court said this while disposing of a petition by senior counsel Shanti Bhushan contending that the Chief Justice should exercise his power to allocate the cases in consultation with the four other judges in the collegium.
He had contended that the collective opinion of the collegium was much safer than the opinion of the Chief Justice alone.
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Karnataka Health Minister Rao hopeful of resolving issues raised by docs, health staff
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Tuesday expressed hope to find a solution to the issues raised by KGMOA and other health department employees' associations as they have called for a statewide strike.
As part of the phased statewide agitation by Karnataka Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA), all Outpatient Department (OPD) services will be affected from March 11.
From March 16, doctors plan a complete boycott of duties, including emergency services, if the government fails to act.
"We have discussed with doctors and healthcare workers. We have spoken to them twice. Yesterday, we communicated the government's actions to them through our commissioner," Rao said in the Legislative Assembly.
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He said, "Their demands include issues pending for several years, such as Cadre and Recruitment Rules, the seniority list, and discrepancies in the last counselling, among others."
"We plan to resolve them. There are several other issues, I don't want to discuss now. We have called them for a meeting with the chief minister today. We will discuss and resolve what we can in the interest of the department and most importantly the public. I'm confident that the issue will be resolved soon," he added.
The minister was replying to a question raised by three MLAs, including BJP's Sunil Kumar during the question hour.
"With various demands, doctors across the state have called for an indefinite strike starting tomorrow. Supply of medicines, transfer policy and filling vacancies are the major issues they have raised," he said.
Noting that the doctors and healthcare staff have threatened to stop OPD operations from March 11 and emergency services from March 16, he said, "This is worrying. The heads of the doctors' and healthcare staff associations told the media that although they brought their issues to the government's attention a month ago, they have not been called for discussion to resolve the issue."
He further urged that the government should not take any drastic measures, like imposing Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA), to curtail the strike. "The government should adopt negotiation instead of conflict. They should call them and resolve the issue immediately."
Congress MLA and chief whip Ashok Pattan said the strike by doctors and healthcare staff will affect the poor.
"The government should call the representatives of doctors and healthcare staff for a meeting and resolve their issues that can be solved immediately. They should also convince them that other issues would be addressed in stages," he said.
Another Congress MLA, Hampanagouda Badarli, also made a similar demand.
