Justice Misra: Only CJI to face Judges' revolt
New Delhi, Sep 30 : Chief Justice Dipak Misra, who will have his last working day as CJI on Monday, will be remembered in the Indian judicial history as perhaps the only head of the top court who saw rebellion by four of his senior most colleagues.
Another incident that stands out during his tenure is an unsuccessful impeachment motion against him in a move led by senior lawyer and Congress leader Kapil Sibal.
On the brighter side, CJI Misra will be given credit for the nod to live-streaming of the top court's proceedings -- a move that will take court proceedings to the drawing rooms of the people.
His term of 13 months and five days as the Chief Justice of India was perhaps the most turbulent for any Chief Justice, which saw his brother Judges and some from the Bar openly questioning his style of functioning in allocation of cases/matters to different benches and listing Constitution Bench matters before a bench of Judges who were relatively newcomers to the top court.
There was a perception, also voiced by the four rebel Judges, that matters of particular significance, including that of deceased Special Court Judge B.H. Loya, were being listed before a certain bench.
The then second-in-command, Justice J. Chelameswar, set up a five-Judge Constitution Bench to hear the plea for an SIT probe into graft allegations involving a Lucknow-based medical college.
The order passed in the afternoon of November 9, 2017 was reversed by a five-Judge Constitution Bench a day later. The entire move was perceived as being targeted against the CJI.
It was also a time which saw lawyers, including senior counsel Prashant Bhushan, raising their voices against the bench in Court Number one.
Bhushan insisted that the CJI should not be a part of the bench hearing the plea for SIT probe into the Lucknow medical college scam and raised the pitch of his voice and stormed out of the court.
As some lawyers took exception to Bhushan's "improper conduct" and wanted to condemn it, Chief Justice Misra said that "no condemnation in the court. We are not here for this."
The top court also also saw both Sibal and Rajeev Dhavan plead against going ahead with the hearing of the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid matter as it was politically sensitive.
Faced with situations where his own brother Judges raised questions on his style of functioning and some of the prominent faces from the bar too joining the chorus, Chief Justice Misra weathered the storm with his usual calm and tact.
But that was not the only facet of his tenure as the CJI. His term will also be remembered for his assertion that the self-appointed right-wing cultural policemen would not be allowed to interfere with the creative expressions of artistes in cinema when the court directed that the screening of films like 'Padmavat' can't be interfered with.
Similarly, the apex court came to the aid of Malayalam actress Priya Prakash Varrier by quashing the FIR against her and directing no case be registered against her for winking in a scene.
At the same time, he demonstrated his sterner side in directing the Centre and the state governments to pull up their socks and tighten their belts to curb vigilantism and mob lynching.
CJI Misra, when he was sitting in Court Number 3, passed an order in November 2016 for mandatorily playing the national anthem in cinemas before the screening of films. He rescinded this order in January this year stating that this was no longer mandatory.
All through his tenure, CJI Misra was unequivocal in upholding the liberty and rights of the people, particularly women.
He presided over a bench that decriminalised homosexuality, allowed the entry of women of all ages in Sabarimala temple, decriminalised adultery and curbed the use of Aadhaar.
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
