Supersession of judges
Topic: Judiciary: Independence, Structure, Judicial Review and Activism · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 6 "Judiciary"; Class 12, Ch 6 "The Crisis of Democratic Order"
Meaning
Supersession means passing over senior judges to make a junior judge Chief Justice of India. It breaks the convention that the senior-most Supreme Court judge becomes CJI. Supersession was seen as a way to reward judges who supported the government. It was linked to the 1970s idea of a committed judiciary.
Example
In April 1973, a day after the Kesavananda Bharati judgment, A.N. Ray was made CJI over Justices Shelat, Hegde and Grover. In January 1977, M.H. Beg was made CJI over H.R. Khanna, who had dissented in ADM Jabalpur. (NCERT says 1975, but the correct date is January 1977.)
Don't confuse with
- Transfer of High Court judges: a transfer moves a judge from one High Court to another (Art. 222). Supersession is about who is chosen as CJI.
Related concepts
- Appointment of judges
- Committed judiciary
- First Judges case
- Second Judges case
- Third Judges case
- Collegium system
- Transfer of High Court judges