BCI attacks Justice Chelameshwar

The Bar Council of India (BCI) on Sunday took on retired Supreme Court judge Justice J Chelameshwar for his remarks on judiciary, saying it was not expected of a person holding such a post.

In a statement, the BCI said he gave "controversial and irrelevant" statements immediately after his retirement on June 18, which are to be "deprecated".

The BCI statement came as Justice Chelameshwar spoke about contentious issues like "bench fixing" and the problems plaguing the judiciary. "Such statements cannot be tolerated, accepted or digested by advocates, including the rest of the countrymen," the BCI said.

It accused Chelameshwar of making a hue and cry over "bench fixing" though he did not raise an objection earlier. "...in fact, he accepted and agreed to hear certain matters himself which led to to the beginning of a wrong practice. Had such irregular or unlawful orders been sought to be set aside by the Chief Justice or by some other judge then there would have been no harm done," the statement said.

Referring to his statements on political interference, it said Justice Chelameshwar himself met CPI national secretary D Raja soon after the controversial January 12 press conference, claiming it "clearly deciphers the mystery and the motive behind the controversial statements being issued" by him. It claimed a section have attempted to misuse and malign the institution but they have "woefully failed".