The Supreme Court today ruled that the Chief Justice of India is the first among equals and has the constitutional authority to decide the allocation of cases and setting up of benches to hear them.
A bench, comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, made the observation before dismissing a PIL seeking framing of guidelines for rational and transparent allocation of cases and constitution of benches to hear them.
The order said, since the Chief Justice is a high constitutional functionary, there cannot be any distrust about the responsibilities he discharges to ensure that the apex court to carries out the work required under the Constitution.
