Condemning his conduct, the Supreme Court on Thursday has pulled up Rahul Gandhi over his march to the top court on October 12th and asked the leader of opposition to explain his actions. Chief Justice of India Suryakant, referring to the opposition’s protest march to the Supreme Court in its agitations against CEC Ganesh Kumar, said nobody can browbeat the judiciary.
Besides responding to the petitions filed by India Bloc and AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi over alleged irregularities in the SCR exercise, the apex court issued notices to ECI and the Chief Election Commissioner.
“Issuing notice does not mean that we are condemning anything. But one objection, before that. We would like to ask one of the petitioners about his conduct on the next date of hearing,” the CJI told senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared for Rahul. “Nobody can browbeat the judiciary,” the CJI further said.
Earlier on October 12th, the Congress MP, along with top leaders of India bloc, marched towards the Supreme Court as the opposition escalated their campaign, demanding the removal of Ganesh Kumar and scrapping of SIR. The memeber of opposition filed a joint petition challenging the ECI’s decision on the SIR exercise, which has so far excluded about 13 crore voters across India.
As the Senior leader was caught in the commotion. The petition was eventually filed through lawyers as the Supreme Court registry was about to close.
The petition also sought a complete disclosure of files, agendas, minutes and objections recorded by the election commissioners Sukbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi on the SIA. The march to the Supreme Court came after CJI Suryakant declined the opposition’s request for a meeting last week. He had advised them to pursue the legal route instead.
Separately, the apex court also sought Centre’s reply on police challenging the move to denotify Jantar Mantar as a protest site. The CJI said the court would examine whether the Delhi police applies its mind before the move.
Days after agitations against CEC Ganesh Kumar intensified, the Delhi police decided to de-notify Jantar Mantar as the protest site. Three new alternative sites Ram Leela Maidan, Burari ground and CBD ground were proposed by the Delhi police, which comes under the Union Home Ministry.
During the hearing, senior advocate Mukta Gupta, counsel for the petitioners, argued that the protest site must be one from where the agitators could be heard. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan sought restoration of the site’s certification. However, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, counsel for the Centre, argued that the decision was based on a committee report and not arbitrary.