The Supreme Court opined on Thursday that “no one can browbeat the judiciary,” while hearing concerns over a march led by Congress leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders to the top court. Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant said that a notice would be issued to Gandhi over the matter, subject to the Congress leader explaining his conduct.
The apex court’s remarks came amid a row over the allegations levelled by the Opposition against electoral irregularities and ‘bote chori’ during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Lawyers voiced concerns regarding the march, questioning whether such demonstrations could exert pressure on the judiciary.
CJI Kant remarked, “We are not sitting in ivory towers,” underlining that the judiciary could not be intimidated. He added that the court was issuing notice on the plea concerning Gandhi, subject to an explanation of his conduct.
Opposition’s march to top court over ‘Vote Chori’ allegations
The development emerged after Opposition leaders carried out a march on Monday to the Supreme Court, seeking to raise concerns over alleged electoral malpractice and voter deletions. Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Khare were among the ones who sought a direct meeting with CJI Kant.
The leaders wanted the judiciary to intervene in the allegations against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and the electoral revision exercise. However, back then, the CJI refused to meet the delegation, pointing out that related matters were already pending before the SC.
The Opposition’s protest forms part of its widespread campaign against the poll panel over the SIR process.
SC seeks responses from EC
In a parallel development, the SC issued notices to the Election Commission of India (ECI) and other officials on a petition filed by Gandhi and the leaders of the INDIA bloc challenging the SIR exercise and alleging the deletion of voters’ names from electoral rolls.
The court has sought responses from the ECI, CEC Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. According to officials, the proceedings are likely to bring the allegations surrounding the electoral revision process under further judicial scrutiny, with the poll authorities required to respond to the issues mentioned in the petition.
Court directs officials to preserve CCTV footage
The SC had also been hearing a batch of petitions concerning protests held on October 10 in Delhi. These also included pleas alleging the detention and harassment of peaceful demonstrators, which included lawyers and journalists.
The Union government and other authorities have submitted responses to petitions on which the court had previously sought their views. The bench led by CJI Kant and earlier identified four broad categories of cases linked, directly or indirectly, to the October 10 demonstrations.
During the proceedings, the SC directed law enforcement agencies to preserve and submit CCTV footage pertaining to the protest incidents after several lawyers requested that the recordings be secured.