The Supreme Court today issued notice to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders on a petition raising concerns over their march to the Supreme Court and entering the court registry on October 12 to file a petition.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notices to Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, TMC MP Mahua Moitra, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee and others on a plea against the march to the top court on October 12. The bench sought the responses of Rahul Gandhi and others on a plea filed by four lawyers seeking restrictions on political demonstrations inside court premises.
CJI Surya Kant observed that nobody can browbeat the top court and directed for the preservation of CCTV footage and other digital evidence relating to the incident. The Bench issued notice on the petition after senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that it was unacceptable that the Supreme Court had to deal with a political procession. The petitioners have contended that political mobilisation must not be allowed to interfere with the administration of justice or create pressure on courts in matters pending adjudication.
The Bench observed that such attempts were fragile and that nobody took notice of them. The protest march was undertaken by the INDIA bloc leaders towards the Supreme Court to raise concerns over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court issued notice to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on a plea filed by Rahul Gandhi and 12 other INDIA bloc leaders challenging the SIR exercise. The Apex court indicated that it would examine the conduct of one of the petitioners at the next hearing. The CJI Kant-led Bench directed that the plea be tagged with other petitions already pending before the apex court challenging the validity of the SIR exercise in various states.
