Under the new Supreme Court Roster notified after Justice SA Bobde took charge as Chief Justice of India, Letter Petitions and PILs will be heard by the four senior-most judges, including the CJI.
The new Roster, which has come into effect from November 26, gives the charge of letter petitions and Public Interest Litigation matters to CJI Bobde and Justices NV Ramana, Arun Mishra, and Rohinton Nariman.
This is not a big departure from the assignment of portfolios under CJI Ranjan Gogoi, during whose tenure this charge was handed over to the five seniormost Judges of the Court.
The PIL portfolio, however, was vested solely with the Chief Justice of India when the Roster system was introduced during the tenure of Justice Dipak Misra as CJI. After Misra J retired, the charge to hear PIL matters was initially shared by CJI Gogoi and Justice Madan Lokur, who was the second senior-most judge at the time. After Justice Lokur’s retirement, the PIL roster was assigned to the five senior-most judges of the time.
CJI Bobde will also deal with Habeas Corpus petitions, Contempt matters, and Direct and Indirect Tax cases, among others. Election matters and Social Justice matters will be solely dealt by his Bench.
Justice Ramana, the second senior-most judge, has been assigned matters relating to the Armed Forces and Paramilitary, along with Arbitration, Criminal matters, and Compensation cases, among others.
Justice Nariman will deal with Mercantile and Commercial matters in addition to Compensation, Criminal, and Arbitration matters.
The fifth Senior Most Judge, Justice R Banumathi is assigned cases relating to Labour, Criminal, Compensation, Rent, Family, and Eviction matters, among others.
Matters relating to Armed Forces and Paramilitary forces are assigned to Justices Nariman, DY Chandrachud, and Deepak Gupta in addition to Justice Ramana.
Personal Law cases will be dealt with by Justices UU Lalit, AM Khanwilkar, Ashok Bhushan, L Nageswara Rao, Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S Abdul Nazeer, and Indu Malhotra.
Consumer Protection cases will be heard by Justices UU Lalit, DY Chandrachud, Mohan M Shantanagoudar, Navin Sinha, Deepak Gupta, and Indu Malhotra.
Justices Navin Sinha, Deepak Gupta, and Indu Malhotra will also be heading Benches as per the new Roster.
[Read the Roster]
