From Master of the Roster to Master of all Judges

Context:

• Recently, a Division Bench of the Supreme Court, in Ritu Chhabria v. Union of India, affirmed an undertrial’s right to be released on default bail in the event of the investigation remaining incomplete and proceeding beyond the statutory time limit. 
• Investigation agencies frowned upon the practice of charge-sheeting an accused with unfinished investigations. 
• Emphasis on completion of investigation within statutory time limit.

Section 167 of the CrPC:

• When a person is arrested and detained during an investigation, there is a time limit for completing the investigation. 
• 90 days for offenses punishable with imprisonment up to 10 years, and 60 days for offenses punishable with imprisonment exceeding 10 years.
• If the investigation is not completed within the time limit, the accused has the right to seek default bail. 

Conditions for eligibility: 

• Accused should not be charged with a non-bailable offense. 
• Accused should not have previous convictions for offenses carrying a punishment of more than seven years. 
• The accused must actively file a bail application to seek default bail. 
• The court reviews the case, considers the progress of the investigation, and grants bail if the statutory time limit has expired. 

An extraordinary decision:

• The Court of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) entertained a recall application against the Division Bench’s judgment.
• An interim order directed courts to decide bail applications without relying on the decision laid down in Ritu Chhabria for a short period of time. 
• Indirectly stayed the decision despite not having any connection with the verdict.

Coordinate Bench:

• Ordinarily, the only recourse available to the Union of India was the filing of a review petition, which is usually decided by the same Bench. 
• There was no scope of the review petition being entertained by the Court of the CJI. 
• The only way the Court of the CJI could enter the fray would be if there was another Coordinate Bench seized of the same issue in a separate matter.

First amongst equals:

• The CJI enjoys special administrative powers such as constituting Benches and assigning matters and references for reconsideration of a larger Bench.
• The CJI is known as the ‘Master of the Roster.’ 
• This is why he is regarded as ‘first amongst equals’ in relation to companion judges. 
• But in any given Bench including the CJI, the vote or power given to the CJI is the same as that given to his companion judges. Hence, they reflect the collective strength of the Court and not of Benches. 

Concerns:

• It is ironic that a judgment which emphasized on abiding by the statutory procedure for investigation and bail was effectively undone by a doubtful procedure that is completely alien to both the Constitution as well as the Supreme Court Rules.
• The interim order raises concerns because, in the near future, if the government is displeased with the order of one Bench, it can simply go before the CJI to get the decision stripped of all its legal sanctity instead of re-convincing the same Bench in a review.

Cause for concerns:

• Despite the administrative usefulness of the ‘Master of the Roster’ system, the many recorded instances of abuse are a cause for concern. 
• The powers vested in the CJI by his virtue of being the Master of the Roster are unending. 
• It is impractical to lay any limits on these powers, meant for the smooth administrative functioning of the Court. 

Step that can be taken:

• It is imperative that the CJI himself refrains from expanding his powers as Master of the Roster; the practice of constituting Benches and allocating cases should be completely computerized and left out of the hands of the CJI.

Conclusion:

• The CJI’s powers as the Master of the Roster are meant only for administrative decision-making. 
• The order has the effect of enlarging the powers of the CJI on the judicial side and of creating an unprecedented intra-court appellate mechanism within the Supreme Court in total disregard of the established procedure, which is a review petition. 
• The instant order has also dulled the bright line prohibiting the Court of the CJI from assuming that it is superior to all other Benches.

News Source: The Hindu