Exclusive : India's Supreme Court Two-Judge Bench overrule Order passed by Three-Judge Bench
- Vineet Malik
- Feb 12, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 10, 2023
By Vineet Malik | February 11, 2022 | London, England
The order was passed by Two-judge bench of the Supreme Court (SC) to shield the alleged contemptuous Trial Court Judge in contravention of a landmark judgment passed by the same court
In January last year, three-judge bench of India's top court presided by Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman, Navin Sinha and Kuttiyil Mathew Joseph issued notice to alleged contemptuous Magistrate Ankush Pundlikrao Khanorkar, 68th Court, Borivali, Mumbai in a contempt of court matter filed by one Manubhai Hargovandas Patel.
In a historic development, after a gap of 11 months, two-judge bench presided by Justices Kuttiyil Mathew Joseph and Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha illegally dropped the contempt notice issued against Khanorkar in December last year.
The Law Says
In the matter of Central Board of Dawoodi Bohra Community and another vs. State of Maharashtra and another [2005)2SCC 673], a five-judge constitution bench of the SC held, "A decision delivered by a bench of larger strength is binding on any subsequent bench of lesser or coequal strength.
It further stated that, it will be open only for a bench of coequal strength, pursuant to which the matter may be placed by the Chief Justice before a bench consisting of a quorum larger than the one which passed the earlier judgment.
A bench of lesser quorum cannot doubt the correctness of the view of the law taken by a bench of larger quorum."
Patel says "The Hon'ble Justices Joseph and Narasimha knowingly and deliberately passed the illegal order to shield the corrupt trial-court judge, while series of illegal orders passed by the SC are discussed and condemned not only by the legal fraternity but also by a common man."
Patel's complaint made against Justices Joseph and Narasimha on 17.01.2022 with a plea to take away their judicial independence is yet to be decided by the President of India, Chief Justice of India (CJI) and SC Collegium.
Independence of Judiciary
Judiciary is considered as the Guardian of the Constitution, Champion of the Rights and Liberties and Watchdog of Democracy.
The Constitution of India is the supreme law of the land and the SC is empowered to uphold the Constitution. As a Watchdog of the Constitution, the SC must ensure that no organ of the government abuses its power, that leads to encroachment of the Constitution.
It must protect the rights and liberties of the individuals.
It must maintain faith of people in the administration.
It must make the administration responsible.
It must correctly interpret the Constitution.
It must maintain the supremacy of the Constitution.
KVJ Rao, anti-corruption crusader from Mumbai says "The conduct of these two Hon'ble Judges of the SC is akin to being law-unto themselves."
The Revelation is running a campaign to debunk the spate of repetitive illegal orders passed by the Indian SC in the matter of Manubhai Hargovandas Patel vs. Metropolitan Magistrate Ankush Pundlikrao Khanorkar. It will soon publish another story highlighting an incident, where-in, one week back, a senior Registrar of the SC most brazenly passed an illegal order, in contravention of a landmark judgment passed by the SC.Notice issued by Three-Judge bench of the SC dated 13.01.2021 can be read here.
Dismissal order passed by Two-Judge bench of the SC dated 02.12.2021 can be read here.
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