CJI Gavai irked over protocol lapse during first visit to Maharashtra after taking office

Mumbai: Chief Justice of India B R Gavai on Sunday expressed his displeasure over the absence of Maharashtra’s Chief Secretary, Director General of Police or the city police commissioner to receive him during his first visit to the state after being elevated to the top post.

Gavai, who took oath as CJI on May 14, was in Mumbai for a felicitation programme by the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa.

At the ceremony, Gavai said he did not want to pinpoint such small issues, but stressed that all three pillars of democracy are equal and must reciprocate and show and give respect to one another.

“If the Chief Secretary of the state, DGP or Mumbai police commissioner does not want to come there, when the CJI, who is from Maharashtra, has arrived for the first time, it’s up to them to think about whether it is right or not,” CJI Gavai said.

It is a question of respect by other organs of the institution to the judiciary, he said, adding that he was not insisting on adherence to protocol.

“When a chief of an organ or institution is coming for the first time to the state, especially when he too belongs to the said state, whether the treatment they gave was right or not, they themselves should think,” Gavai said.

The CJI said that while he does not want to get into such minor matters, he felt the need to mention the same so that people know about it.

“If in my place there was someone else, then the provisions of Article 142 would be considered,” Gavai said in a lighter vein.

Article 142 of the Indian Constitution grants the Supreme Court the power to pass decrees or orders deemed necessary for doing complete justice in any case or matter pending before it.

It also allows the court to make orders for securing the attendance of individuals.