Supreme Court justices confront chief justice over middlemen and former chief’s detention

On Monday, Supreme Court justices gathered for a five-hour full-court meeting to interrogate Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Sharma about mounting controversies within weeks of his appointment. The discussion centered on the alleged return of middlemen influencing the court and the midnight detention of former chief justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana, who was held for about 12 hours without an arrest warrant and released later that day.

Judges expressed fear that serving justices could face similar security threats and questioned why the court’s case-lottery system had not been applied to the Constitutional Bench. They also raised complaints about the conduct of judges in the Special Court and the role of its newly appointed chair Basudev Acharya. Sharma defended his record, admitted mistakes may have been made, and pledged to improve judicial independence and procedural transparency. The bench agreed to issue a statement summarizing the concerns and the chief justice’s response.