Justice C.V. Karthikeyan, the third judge named by Madras High Court Chief Justice S.V. Gangapurwala to hear a habeas corpus petition filed by arrested Minister V. Senthilbalaji’s wife following a split verdict by two judges of a Division Bench, on Thursday decided to first list down the differences of opinion between the two judges before proceeding with the hearing.
After taking up the case for a formal hearing on Thursday, the judge told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) and Senior Counsel N.R. Elango, representing the petitioner Megala, that clause 36 of the Letters Patent requires the differing judges to list out the points of differences before referring the matter to the third judge.
Since such a procedure had not been followed in the present case, Justice Karthikeyan decided to take a cue from a 2007 judgement of the High Court in All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam versus State Election Commission wherein it was held that the third judge could also frame the points of differences before proceeding with the hearing of the case.
