Chief Justice Chandrachud Reprimands Lawyer for Complaining About Fellow Supreme Court Judge
Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud on Tuesday reprimanded a lawyer, Ashok Pandey, for complaining about another Supreme Court judge. CJI Chandrachud advised Pandey to file a review petition if he was dissatisfied with any court order. Pandey had hurried to the CJI’s courtroom, claiming a judge had threatened to suspend his license.
Visibly upset, CJI Chandrachud emphasized that the Supreme Court does not have the facility for intra-court appeals. “If you are aggrieved by an order of this court, you have a remedy of review petition. Every judge of this court is very experienced and they have decades of experience as lawyers as well,” he stated.
Pandey explained that he had been fined by the Supreme Court for filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and was seeking the recall of the order imposing the fine. He claimed the judge had ordered him out of the courtroom and threatened to cancel his license. Justice Chandrachud responded sharply, indicating his frustration: “I have been hearing you for a while, and now I am beginning to lose my patience. I can understand what would happen in other courts. You please seek remedy as per the law.”
Later, Pandey questioned the effectiveness of the PIL system if petitioners were fined by the court. The CJI acknowledged that matters sometimes escalate in courts, leading to heated exchanges between judges and parties. However, he reassured that the judges of the apex court are seasoned and know how to handle such situations.
Earlier in the day, Pandey faced rebuke from two courts, including a bench led by Justice Abhay S Oka. The Justice Oka-led bench criticized Pandey for not depositing a ₹50,000 fine imposed on him for filing a “meritless” plea and ordered him to submit the amount within two weeks. The bench, also comprising Justice Augustine George Masih, denied Pandey’s request for more time to pay the fine.
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