Chief Justice of India H L Dattu said on Sunday that the row over his colleague Justice Kurian Joseph’s objection to the holding of judges’ conference on Good Friday was “avoidable” and that the issue “will be settled within the family”. Speaking to media in an informal interaction on the sidelines of the joint conference of chief justices of high courts and chief ministers, the CJI termed the controversy as “unfortunate” while adding: “I am the head of the family if one member questions me, we will settle it ourselves.” He said the two-day affair on Friday and Saturday was actually not a ‘conference’ but a meeting where judges discuss among themselves issues and problems related to the judiciary. As judges do not get time to interact with each other, he said, such meetings are held periodically where important issues are discussed. [related-post] The CJI said while all Supreme Court judges are invited, the attendance of top three apex court judges — the CJI and two senior-most judges in this case Justice T S Thakur and Justice A R Dave — is mandatory. Justice Joseph had written to the CJI on March 18 and questioned the timing of the conference and subsequent functions, saying he would be away in Kerala “committed on account of the holy days when we have religious ceremonies and family get together as well”. Such events, he wrote, were not held during Diwali, Dussehra, Holi or Eid. The CJI wrote back saying “institutional interest should be given preference to individual interest” and highlighted the need to strike a balance between needs of the institution and family commitments. Justice Joseph said “I am deeply hurt. shocked by the tenor” of the response from the CJI rejecting his suggestion while raising questions of “individual interest”. In his response to an invitation by PM Modi for attending the conference and a dinner on Sunday, he had expressed his inability to attend.
