India, Sept. 24 -- Flagging the inordinate delay in resolution of references made to larger Benches, the Supreme Court on Wednesday termed it a "source of institutional embarrassment" and requested the Chief Justice of India to explore the necessity of setting up a permanent five-judge Constitution bench. A Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma termed the delay as an area of "grave concern" and said self-introspection was required, as pendency of reference for far too long does not reflect well on the institution.

The observations were made after both the judges gave split opinions on whether a batch of pleas challenging the validity of a 2023 law that excludes the CJI from the panel for selecting the Chief Election ...