Chief Justice Thakur expresses concern over Conflicting Judgments by Supreme Court Benches

Conflicting judgments by Supreme Court Judges creates a lot of confusion, said the Chief Justice of India T. S. Thakur.

This remark was reportedly made while hearing NALCO’s petition challenging the levy of entry tax and penalty imposed on it by the Orissa government.

It was observed that Apex court had in certain cases asked the companies to deposit 33% tax and in some others 50% and in many cases penalty is stayed.

The Bench comprising of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice U U Lalit observed “"We are inclined to vacate the interim order. Why should rich corporates like Vedanta, Adani and Essar deprive a poor state like Odisha, where many are poor and do not have proper shelter to live, be deprived of its revenue?"

The Court also said that said it would in April vacate its three-year-old interim order asking authorities to collect only 50% of entry tax.

The Chief Justice then reportedly remarked “Too many judges give conflicting judgments. This creates a lot of confusion on what is actually the law. It’s a problem of plenty. The more judges we have, the more confusion. In a high court, the chief justice has to keep pictures of his brother judges and refers to them before giving an appointment.”

The Chief Justice further commented ““Today we have 26 judges in the Supreme Court and we have this problem. What will happen 50 years later when there are 100 judges?”

Two years ago, Eminent Senior Advocate Fali Nariman had said “I don’t like the two-judge bench. I have opposed it, but nobody listens to me. The Supreme Court is very important and now that we have 32 judges, it’s possible to have a bench of at least three.”

Source : Hindustan Times, Times of India