CJI-centric working of SC needs change to make it more democratic: Justice Abhay S Oka

NEW DELHI: Hailing just-demitted CJI Sanjiv Khanna's initiatives to bring transparency in Supreme Court, Justice Abhay S Oka , on his last working day as judge, said a shift away from CJI-centric functioning is needed to make it more democratic. He expressed hope that CJI B R Gavai would bring the change during his tenure.

"In high courts, of course chief justice is the master of roster, but HCs function more democratically than the Supreme Court because there is an administrative committee in place of the first five judges. And that committee takes major important decisions regarding the administration. Somehow, I found, during my three years and more, that the Supreme Court is a Chief Justice-centric court. And I think we need to change that because SC is a court of 34 judges who come from different areas of our country," he said.