Note: Setalvad had been accused of forgery and conspiracy, and arrested shortly after the apex court had dismissed a plea by Zakia Jafri and her, challenging the SIT clean chit given to high state functionaries, including Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi in connection with the Gujarat Riots. Some civil society members had criticised the arrests as being reflective of an " aggressive abuse of power ", and had expressed concerns about such arrests having a chilling effect on others.

'Unfairly Denied Bail': Noam Chomsky, Scholars Urge SC To Free Teesta Setalvad

Note: GN Saibaba is wheelchair bound, crippled by ailments and 90% disabled. But that is not the primary reason why one may be most troubled by the apex court’s order.

As pointed out by Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves, the Supreme Court did not even find the High Court’s order to be prima facie wrong, and: “Unless, a superior court finds a lower court’s order unsustainable, you cannot stay the order. Not just because the court wants to look into the very fine points of law.” Read more about the concerns pertaining to the apex court’s order suspending the High Court judgment in GN Saibaba’s case here . It is true that this decision came from a bench of Justices MR Shah and Bela M Trivedi, and not from CJI Lalit. So, you may wonder why it features in an analysis of his legacy. The answer to this lies in the fact that the Chief Justice of India has the power to decide which case is listed when, and before which bench. As pointed out by Manu Sebastian, Managing Editor of LiveLaw in an article published in the legal-news website: “The tearing hurry with which the petition filed at 3.59 PM yesterday (sic) was listed for hearing on a non-working day, that too before a special bench (as per the present sitting arrangement, there is no regular bench consisting of Justice MR Shah and Justice Bela M Trivedi) has startled many. And the questions stop at the Chief Justice of India as (he is) Master of the Roster.” Experts have told The Quint that never before has an urgent Saturday hearing taken place to stay the acquittal (or discharge) of a person. “This is unprecedented,” former Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court Pradeep Nandrajog said. This Saturday hearing to take away somebody's liberty will remain a question mark in CJI Lalit’s otherwise largely unblemished tenure. Analysing CJI Lalit’s legacy, in the aftermath of this apex court hearing, Advocate Gautam Bhatia wrote in his blog : “…does organisational competence make up for the deprivation of freedom, as if the two things form part of the same currency, to be traded against one another? Or is freedom itself a tradable commodity, where bail to one individual justifies keeping six others in jail? Is not a live-streamed executive Court, which sits on a Saturday morning to suspend an order of acquittal/discharge, still an executive Court? ”

Chief Justice UU Lalit Legacy: 74 Days of Maximum Efficiency, But Some Questions Linger

74 days ago when UU Lalit took over as the Chief Justice of India, one had little to hope for. CJI Ramana's tenure had not been as bleak as that of some of his predecessors, but a lot was still left to be done. What then could a Chief Justice with so little time be expected to do?

But perhaps CJI Lalit was determined. His tenure would not be a hyphen between two terms. He was not going to just keep the seat warm for his successor. He was going to leave a mark. He made it clear when he said in a televised interview, before he took oath, that his tenure would focus on achieving "maximum efficiency through the limited resources".

And it did.

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Chief Justice UU Lalit: 74 Days of Maximum Efficiency, But Some Questions Linger

An urgent hearing, on a Saturday, will remain a question mark in CJI Lalit’s otherwise largely unblemished tenure.

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Topics: Supreme Court Chief Justice of India UU Lalit