On January 16, a Delhi High Court’s division bench led by Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vikas Mahajan denied a petition for review of a judgement dismissing the public interest litigation that had challenged the appointment of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud last year. The petition was an appeal "disguised as a review," according to the bench, and it did not fall within the four corners of review.

“Petitioner is not able to show any error apparent on face of record. There are no grounds to interfere with the impugned order passed on November 11, 2022. The petition is accordingly dismissed,” the bench said.

In the PIL, petitioner Sanjeev Kumar Tiwari argued that the appointment of Justice Chandrachud violated constitutional provisions. He had requested an immediate halt to Justice Chandrachud's appointment.

The court denied the review petition after observing that it was filed "under the guise of seeking a re-hearing of the petition," which is not permitted in review.

During the hearing, Tiwari, speaking in Hindi, claimed that his plea was dismissed at a cost of Rs 1 lakh without a thorough hearing, and that he was not even given a copy of the order in Hindi.

The bench led by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma recused itself from hearing the review petition last week. While dismissing the PIL, the bench stated in November 2022 that the offices held by constitutional functionaries are not subject to denigration by "self-styled warriors of public interest" on the basis of superficial allegations that lack legal or factual support.

The bench described the plea as a classic case of "wishful thinking," and said it was a case that should be "crushed at the threshold" in the strongest possible terms.

The court also noted that various scandalous allegations were made in the PIL against former Chief Justices of India without any evidence to back them up.

Title: Sanjeev Kumar Tiwari V. Union Of India And Ors