Meaning of Master of Roster

‘Roster’ as ‘a list of people’s names and the jobs they have to do at a particular time.’ Master of Roster is a judge appointed by the SC to list out the allocation of cases to different judges, for preventing two different benches from hearing the same kind of case. It allows effective case management, by allocating similar cases to judges with more experience.

In the Indian context, it usually refers to the administrative power of the Chief Justice of India and the Chief Justices of the High Courts to allocate the matters that their brother and sister judges shall be hearing, respectively.

There has been several judgments of the High Courts and the Supreme Court interpreting the correct positions of ‘Master of Roster’. Recently also after this debate, it was formalised that the CJI is Sui generis (unique) and hence the master of roster.