Q.Why did the appointment of A.N. Ray, the Chief Justice of India, in 1973 become controversial ?
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →A.N. Ray's appointment as Chief Justice in 1973 sparked controversy because the government superseded three senior judges to elevate him, breaking the established convention of seniority and raising fears about judicial independence.
The controversy surrounding A.N. Ray's appointment strikes at the heart of one of India's most delicate constitutional balances: the independence of the judiciary from executive interference. Until 1973, an unwritten but firmly observed convention governed the selection of the Chief Justice of India—the seniormost judge of the Supreme Court would automatically be elevated to the position. This practice had become so entrenched that it was considered almost sacrosanct, a bulwark protecting the judiciary from political manipulation.
In April 1973, however, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's government shattered this convention. When Chief Justice S.M. Sikri retired, the logical successor by seniority was Justice J.M. Shelat. Behind him in line stood Justices K.S. Hegde and A.N. Grover. Yet the government bypassed all three of these senior judges and appointed A.N. Ray, who ranked fourth in seniority, as the new Chief Justice.
The immediate trigger for this dramatic move lay in a recent Supreme Court judgment that had deeply angered the government. In the Kesavananda Bharati case, decided just days before Sikri's retirement, the Supreme Court had ruled that Parliament could not amend the Constitution in ways that destroyed its "basic structure." This landmark judgment placed limits on the government's power to reshape the Constitution at will. Crucially, the three superseded judges—Shelat, Hegde, and Grover—had all been part of the majority that supported this doctrine and imposed restrictions on parliamentary sovereignty. Ray, by contrast, had been in the minority, taking a position more favorable to the government's expansive view of amendment powers.
The three superseded judges resigned in protest immediately after Ray's appointment, a powerful statement about the threat they perceived to judicial independence. Their resignations underscored that this was not merely a procedural irregularity but a fundamental assault on the separation of powers. …
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