A new roster system will come into effect from Monday in the Supreme Court. It is tempting to see it as an attempt to introduce transparency and to institutionalise allocation of cases to various Benches — one of the main demands of the four seniormost judges who staged a “judicial mutiny” on January 12. Still, the rebel judges wouldn’t get to hear PILs which the CJI has assigned to his own Bench. Subject-wise roster system for judges — a first for the Supreme Court — is, in fact, not a novel idea. It has been working well in the Delhi High Court for years. So far so good. The question is: has the apex court returned to a state of judicial tranquillity? The CJI had unilaterally announced the new roster system without consulting the rebel judges. Admitted, that the CJI is “master of the roster”; but enforcing it without consulting senior judges can be problematic. The new arrangement partly denudes the CJI of his moral authority.It’s understandable that CJI Misra is hurt by the washing of dirty linen in public by Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph as it gave a bad name to the institution. But ignoring the issues raised by them cannot be the solution. The judiciary faces, perhaps, its most serious crisis since the supersession of judges and the Emergency during the 1970s. This time around, the damage done to the institution is self-inflicted.The very credibility of the judiciary as an institution is at stake. It is time for the CJI and others to rise above personal differences and display judicial statesmanship in the larger interest of an institution which still enjoys immense public faith. But there are silver linings too. For a change, the Bar has played a positive role. The judges reposed faith in the media which is often blamed by the judiciary for sensationalising events and conducting media trial; and, thirdly, the judiciary has been one of the most opaque institutions. It has now been forced to flirt, paerhaps, with openness and transparency. Hopefully, Monday will be a new day and, perhaps, a new beginning.