The Memorandum of Procedure sets out how judges of the Supreme Court are appointed. On the Chief Justice of India, it says: “Appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of India should be of the senior most Judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office.”
Ten, Twenty, Thirty
In an office memorandum of May 19, 2009, the Department of Personnel and Training introduced the Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme for central government employees. It grants “three financial upgradations under the MACPS at intervals of 10, 20 and 30 years of continuous regular service.”
Hair Whitened in the Sun
Baal dhoop mein safed karna. To whiten one’s hair in the sun. The Rekhta dictionary defines it in Hindi as budhape tak anubhavheen rehna, to stay inexperienced into old age. In English it gives “be ignorant in spite of age.”
Rekhta notes that the phrase is mostly used in a negative sense.
Not by Gray Hair
Verse 2.136 of the Manusmriti names five grounds of respect: wealth, kin, age, deeds and learning. In one modern translation, “each succeeding factor is weightier.”
Verse 2.156 says: Na tena vriddho bhavati yenasya palitam shirah. “One does not become old merely because one’s head is gray. Rather, he who, though young, is learned in scriptures, him the gods consider to be an elder.”
Elder Brother
In Premchand’s story Bade Bhai Sahab, Elder Brother, the narrator’s brother is five years older. He stays in the same class year after year. The younger brother gets good marks in his exams. The elder brother keeps lecturing him all the same.
Samajh kitabein padhne se nahin aati, duniya dekhne se aati hai. Understanding does not come from reading books. It comes from seeing the world.
The story is chapter 8 of Sparsh, the NCERT Hindi textbook for Class 10.
Working Under a Junior
In 2018 the Maharashtra government appointed D.K. Jain as chief secretary, the head of the state’s civil service. Two officers from his own 1983 batch of the Indian Administrative Service, Medha Gadgil and Sudhir Shrivastava, ranked above him in seniority within the batch. Both “proceeded on protest leave,” ThePrint reported.
“It is extremely embarrassing and humiliating for any officer to work under their juniors,” a senior IAS officer told ThePrint. Rakesh Srivastava, a former president of the IAS Association, described the usual practice: “Typically, when a junior is appointed the chief secretary, seniors are posted out of the secretariat.”
The Pro-Tem Speaker
On June 20, 2024, President Droupadi Murmu appointed Bhartruhari Mahtab of the BJP as pro-tem Speaker of the newly elected Lok Sabha. Mahtab had served seven terms as a member. The Congress said that the government had passed over K. Suresh, an eight-term member, and accused it of “destroying parliamentary norms.”
Kiren Rijiju answered for the government with a different count of seniority. “Suresh was not a member of the LS in 1998 and 2004, though he was an eight-term MP,” he said. According to the government, Mahtab had the longest uninterrupted tenure in the house.
Three Calls to Go Around
On May 22, 2010, Air India Express Flight 812 crashed while landing at Mangalore. The Court of Inquiry found that the captain continued an unstable approach “despite three calls from the First Officer (H S Ahluwalia) to ‘go around’.” The first call was a question: “Go around?” The last was: “Go around captain…We don’t have runway left.”
The first officer did not take over the controls. The report noted “ambiguity in various instructions empowering the ‘copilot’ to initiate a ‘go around’.”
A Small Mouth, Big Words
Chhota munh badi baat : a small mouth, big words. The Rekhta dictionary gives its Hindi meanings as speaking above one’s ability, claiming more than one has been encouraged to, and badon ke samne dhrishtata dikhana, showing impudence in front of elders.
Gustakhi maaf : “pardon (my) rudeness, excuse me,” in Rekhta’s definition. Rekhta notes that the related phrase gustakhi muaf ho is used as an aside when someone says something impolite or unwelcome.
The Saddest Day
On April 26, 1973, A.N. Ray became Chief Justice of India. The twelve Chief Justices before him had been appointed by the convention of seniority. Ray was not the most senior judge. His appointment passed over three judges senior to him: J.M. Shelat, K.S. Hegde and A.N. Grover.
All three resigned in protest. The legal site LiveLaw later called the date “The Saddest Day In The History Of Our Free Institution.”