No plea was filed in SC: CJI rejects reports of refusing to hear protest petition
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Friday dismissed as "reckless" media reports claiming that he had refused an urgent hearing on a plea against
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Friday dismissed as "reckless" media reports claiming that he had refused an urgent hearing on a plea against the July 20 police action on students, saying no such petition had been filed before the court. He said what had reached him was only a representation and not a writ petition, and told the court that reports suggesting he had declined to list the matter were "completely false". Read Full Story While lawyers were mentioning cases for urgent listing on Friday, the said, "In the last two days, a completely false statement was made that a matter was filed, and the media is absolutely free from all responsibility and falsely reporting that the Chief Justice refused to list the matter." He added, "Till morning 10 am, not a single page has been filed.
It was one representation...sent by Mishra or someone. How can I treat the representation as a writ petition? And people start recklessly reporting this." On Wednesday, a lawyer had sought an urgent hearing on the police action against students during the Cockroach Janta Party-led protest march on July 20. "I have the videos as well regarding police brutality... If it can be listed tomorrow (Thursday)... students are there," the lawyer had said, alleging that students were subjected to police brutality during the protest. The, however, declined the request and made it clear that the bench was not inclined to examine video footage at the mentioning stage.
"We are not interested in videos, we don't have time to watch... We don't want to watch videos," he said. When the counsel repeated that students had been beaten up and again referred to the video evidence, the said, "Don't waste our time. We don't want to watch any videos." The July 20 march saw clashes between protesters and security personnel, who used lathis and tear gas to disperse crowds trying to move towards Parliament. The protesters were demanding the resignation of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET exam leak issue.
In sum, the said on Friday that reports claiming he had refused an urgent hearing were incorrect, as no petition had been filed and only a representation had been sent to the court. Ends
The BriefWire