# Supreme Court needs transparent case roster, says former judge

> Former Supreme Court judge Abhay Oka calls for overhauling the case allocation system to eliminate manual intervention and reduce the Chief Justice's administrative power.
- Title: Supreme Court needs transparent case roster, says former judge
- Summary: Former Supreme Court judge Abhay Oka calls for overhauling the case allocation system to eliminate manual intervention and reduce the Chief Justice's…
- Keywords: supreme court, abhay oka, case allocation, judicial accountability, chief justice of india, collegium system, india, news, politics, Supreme, Court, needs
- Source: The Hindu — https://thehindu.com/news/national/supreme-court-needs-transparent-roster-system-says-former-judge-oka/article71629926.ece
- Author: The Hindu Bureau
- Published: 2026-10-27T18:55:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: supreme court, abhay oka, case allocation, judicial accountability, chief justice of india, collegium system, india, news, politics
## Former judge calls for roster overhaul
Former Supreme Court judge Abhay S. Oka said on Tuesday, October twenty-seventh, twenty twenty-six that the Supreme Court's roster system needs overhauling to bring greater transparency to case allocation.
## Multiple benches, same cases create confusion
Several Supreme Court benches are assigned the same categories of cases, making it difficult for litigants to know which bench a new case would be listed before, Oka said.
## Manual intervention still possible
When the same subject is assigned to multiple benches, a case can go to five different benches. Oka said this leaves room for human intervention in deciding where a case is listed.

> The object of a roster is to ensure that the possibility of manual intervention in listing is ruled out.
## Chief Justice holds too much power
The Chief Justice of India, as master of the roster, has administrative authority to constitute benches and allocate work. Oka said this makes the Supreme Court overly dependent on the Chief Justice's office.

> The Supreme Court is too much of a Chief Justice-centric court.
## High courts use collective decision-making
High courts take administrative decisions through committees constituted by their Chief Justices, bringing collective decision-making to administrative powers. Oka said the Supreme Court should follow this model.
## Collegium system needs transparency
Oka called for greater transparency in the collegium system for judicial appointments to strengthen its credibility. He said the process itself must be transparent, not just the system.

> The collegium must function transparently. The transparency has to be in the process that is followed.
## Oka backs collegium but wants reform
Oka said he is a firm believer in the collegium system and it should not be replaced without a better alternative, but it must function with greater transparency in its processes.

> Unless there is a better system, we should not replace it.
## Key takeaway

Former Supreme Court judge Abhay Oka says the court's case allocation system needs transparency to prevent manual intervention in listing cases before specific benches.