In March 1993, a month into becoming Chief Justice of India, Justice M N Venkatachaliah faced a constitutional crisis. The apex court had ordered Dr H Borobabu Singh, the Speaker of the Manipur Legislative Assembly, to appear before it, and the Speaker repeatedly refused. The apex court and the Speaker were on a collision course.
In a 1964 face-off between the judiciary and the UP assembly, the legislature had ordered the arrest of Allahabad High Court judges. Justice Venkatachaliah must have wondered what he would do if the Speaker continued to defy the court’s authority and dignity. The 1993 crisis stemmed from a case about the defection of seven Manipur MLAs.