Indian stock markets got a jolt in the mid-morning session on Friday with the key equity indices sliding into negative territory as against the record highs seen in the morning, after four of India’s senior-most judges of the Supreme Court raised concerns over the administration of the apex court. BSE Sensex tumbled about 300 points from the day’s high, falling to the day’s low of 34,342.16 points; while NSE Nifty slid about 100 points from the intra-day high to hit the day’s low at 10,598.6. Earlier, in the morning trades, stock markets had extended gains on Friday with the key equity indices Sensex and Nifty mounting their respective fresh lifetime highs.
In an unprecedented move, four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court today addressed the media and raised concerns over the administration of the Supreme Court under the current Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra. In the first-of-its-kind press conference, Justices Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph said there was an immediate need to preserve the judiciary system in the country. The press conference, a first of its kind for sitting judges of the Supreme Court, was held at the residence of Justice Chelameswar. The conference was mostly addressed by Justice J Chelameswar.
The judges of the Supreme Court have gone public against the Chief Justice, telling the media that the administration of the top court “has not been in order”. “We owe a responsibility to the institution and the nation. Our efforts have failed in convincing the Chief Justice to take steps to protect the institution.” Justice Chelameswar acknowledged that it was “an extraordinary event” in the history of any nation. “There is no pleasure in this, we were compelled to do this, the administration of the Supreme Court is not in order,” said the senior judge.
The broader market indices too came under pressure with Nifty Next 50, Nifty Midcap 50, Nifty 100, Nifty 200, Nifty 500, Nifty Mid100 Free and Nifty Sml100 Free losing up to 1.4%; while the sectoral indices tumbled up to 2.5% with Nifty Realty, Nifty Pharma, Nifty FMCG losing the most. Among the 31 stocks of Sensex, Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, Yes Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Sun Pharma, TCS, HUL, Bajaj Auto, ITC and Tata Steel lost 1-3%. Shares of other prominent blue-chip companies such as Idea Cellular, Shree Cements, Bajaj Finserv, PFC, DLF, NHPC, Bank of Baroda, Container Corporation of India, United Spirits lost 1-4%.
On the other hand, shares of Zee Entertainment, ICICI Bank, Vedanta, Maruti Suzuki, RIL, HDFC, Bharti Infratel, IOC, Sun TV, Colgate Palmolive, JSW Steel, ABB, Hindustan Zinc were the only notable gainers among the large-cap shares, trading in green.
