Oct 12 Supreme Court march by Oppn: CJI: Nobody can browbeat judiciary
In Short
SC issues notice to EC, CEC on Rahul plea
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Supreme Court
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday made strong observations in relation to Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's march to the top court on Monday and protest at its premises.
"Nobody can browbeat judiciary," Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said referring to Rahul Gandhi's march to Supreme Court.
The top court took up the petitions filed by Rahul Gandhi and other INDIA Bloc leaders questioning the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the decisions related to SIR.
The court issued notice to the ECI, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and the two Election Commissioners on the petition but added that issuing notice doesn't mean condoning the conduct of the political leaders.
"We will issue notice, but we want to know his conduct on the next date of hearing," CJI Surya Kant noted.
The court's curt observations came after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and advocate Gaurav Bhatia raised the issue of the protest at the Supreme Court.
"It is unacceptable that this court is seized with political procession. What happened in SC should not have happened," Bhatia pointed out.
At this point CJI stated: "Nobody can browbeat the judiciary."
On Bhatia's assertion that the protest and march was an attempt to pressurise the court, the CJI called the attempts "feeble".
"These are feeble attempts that nobody takes note of. Outside they make statements...we are not sitting in ivory tower, we are aware of things," the court observed.
The court also issued notice to Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav and others on a separate plea against their march to the apex court over alleged SIR irregularities.
The court directed that CCTV recordings from the court's premises during the INDIA bloc's protest should be preserved.
On Monday, October 12, Rahul Gandhi had led an INDIA bloc march that started from Barakhamba Road in Central Delhi and ended at the Supreme Court. The protest led to a huge gathering within the court complex.
Earlier, CJI Surya Kant had declined Gandhi's request for an appointment to discuss issues relating to the SIR exercise and the functioning of the Election Commission.
The CJI declined the request, stating that the issues sought to be raised were already pending before the Supreme Court. He also conveyed that the Court could not interfere with the functioning of the government on its administrative side, while clarifying that the leaders were free to approach the Court on its judicial side for appropriate relief.
The petition against the ECI were filed by Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy, SP's Akhilesh Yadav, RJD's Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Supriya Sule of NCP(SP), Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, D Raja of CPI, Mahua Majhi of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, MA Baby of CPM and Indian Union Muslim League leader ET Mohammed Basheer. The ten INDIA Bloc demands in the petition are a directive to produce all records related to the SIR, examination of the constitutional validity of SIR decisions, action against responsible officials, redressal of the petitioner's grievances, and a demand for an audit by an independent committee, among others.
