A bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud every day usually hears around 100 cases on average seeking urgent listing before the benches of the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice's court is often packed with lawyers, who mention their matters seeking urgent hearings. During the mention of the cases, the Chief Justice is very soft-spoken while engaging with lawyers and has rarely lost his cool during the court proceedings. However, on Tuesday, April 11, he got irked and warned a lawyer: "Don't mess around with my authority."
The lawyer had mentioned a case and requested the court for an early hearing in the matter but after the bench told him that his matter will be listed on April 17, he asked for the liberty to mention the matter before another bench. "I can mention before another bench if permitted," said the lawyer.
The bench, headed by the Chief Justice, and also comprising Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala, told the lawyer not to play tricks with them and said: "You can't mention it here and then elsewhere for an earlier date."
The lawyer expressed regret and said he should be excused for his submissions. The Chief Justice told the lawyer, "Yes, you are excused. But do not mess around with my authority", as he proceeded with the mentioning process.