There Should Be No Impediment In Movement Of Lawyers, Court Staff : CJI Surya Kant Amid CEC Protests
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Monday said that there should be no impediment to the movement of lawyers, litigants and court staff, amid the curbs in the national capital due to the protests against the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
CJI also said that the Supreme Court should not be dragged into the issues.
The CJI made this observation when Senior Advocates Atamaram Nadkarni and Pradeep Rai mentioned petitions concerning the detention of lawyers. While Nadkarni mentioned a petition filed by a lawyer, SCBA President Rai mentioned the petition filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association. The SCBA petition concerns lawyers' detention and internet suspension.
The CJI said that the matter would be taken up on Tuesday when the connected matters are listed.
"All these democratic activities should take place, but at least in Supreme Court functioning..." the CJI remarked.
"We are not from any political party. The institution is performing institutional duties, and we are performing professional duties. Parties should not interfere in our domain," Rai said.
When Rai said that the parties should not interfere with the functioning of the Supreme Court, the CJI responded that he had also appealed to the protesters.
"I have appealed to protesters also. All political parties also...The Supreme Court should not be dragged into this. There should not be any impediment in the movement of lawyers, litigants, court staff. They should be allowed to work," the CJI said.
Rai replied, "I have made a statement, they should not bring Court into this and they should be responsible political parties,"
Yesterday, CJI Surya Kant had declined the request made by Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi for a meeting to discuss issues related to the SIR, saying that they should approach the Supreme Court on the judicial side.
The Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association has also filed a petition challenging the police actions against lawyers.
Yesterday, in a special Sunday sitting, the Supreme Court ordered that there should not be an illegal detention of unarmed citizens, and that lawyers, journalists and other professionals must not be stopped from their professional duties.