justice abhay s oka
NEW DELHI, Aug. 25 -- The stray dog matter should not have been taken away from justice JB Pardiwala's bench, justice Abhay S Oka said in his first interview since retiring from the Supreme Court in May, cautioning that shifting cases after public criticism "sends a wrong signal". He also underlined that "no chief justice can write to any bench asking them to modify an order".
The remarks come in the backdrop of the controversy over justice Pardiwala's August 11 order on the mass capture and sheltering of stray dogs in Delhi and some adjoining districts, which was later withdrawn from his bench and shifted to a larger bench by Chief Justice of India Bhushan R Gavai through an administrative order. The larger bench on August 22 modified the previous order, terming it "too harsh".
In another instance, CJI Gavai had written to justice Pardiwala urging the latter to modify the August 4 directive that barred an Allahabad high court judge from hearing any criminal cases for the remainder of his tenure.
Justice Oka clarified that while benches can always recall or modify their orders by re-listing cases and hearing parties afresh, "it is obvious that a chief justice cannot write to any bench asking them to modify an order".
On the reconstitution of benches, he was categorical that if the Supreme Court felt the need to refer the stray dog case to a larger bench, the composition should have been an expansion of the original two-judge bench.
"If it had to be transferred to a larger bench, the same bench could have been continued and one more judge could have been added," said justice Oka, noting that removing the original judge was not correct in principle.
Justice Oka also spoke on the recent stay of the 2018 ruling that barred end-of-life vehicles from plying in Delhi.
SEE INTERVIEW ON PAGE 6...
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