New Delhi: “As it is, we are alleged of encroaching upon the parliamentary and executive functions,” Supreme Court’s judge BR Gavai said Monday in an apparent reference to recent attacks on the judiciary.
Justice Gavai’s comment came while the apex court bench, also comprising Justice Augustine George Masih, was considering a fresh plea seeking an inquiry into the recent violence in West Bengal during anti-Waqf law protests.
Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, who had filed a PIL in 2021 on behalf of two petitioners seeking President’s Rule in West Bengal in the wake of violence following Assembly polls, urged the bench to take up a fresh plea for hearing Tuesday.
Jain said the 2021 plea was listed for hearing and the fresh application bringing out more incidents of violence in West Bengal also be heard.
“In tomorrow’s list item 42 pertains to imposition of President Rule in the state of West Bengal. That petition is filed by me. In that petition, I have filed an IA (application) for directions and impleadment bringing out certain more incidents of violence which have happened in the state of West Bengal,” he said.
Jain said deployment of paramilitary force and immediate action was required.
He referred to Article 355 of the Constitution, which pertains to duty of the Union to protect states against external aggression and internal disturbance, and said the apex court can call for a report as to what was happening in the state.
Jain said the top court had earlier issued notice on the 2021 petition.
“When the matter will come up, I will demonstrate how the violence happened,” he said.
In July 2021, the apex court agreed to hear the PIL, which also sought a direction to the Centre to deploy armed/paramilitary forces in the state. It then issued notice to the Centre, West Bengal and the Election Commission on the plea.
Recently, two separate petitions were filed in the apex court seeking a court-monitored probe into the violence in West Bengal over the newly-enacted Waqf (Amendment) Act.
Fresh incidents of Waqf law-related violence rocked Bhangar area in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district on April 14, even as police claimed the law and order situation in the previous riot epicentre of Murshidabad remained largely under control.
At least three people were killed and hundreds rendered homeless in the communal violence in parts of Murshidabad district on April 11 and 12 during protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey last week made disparaging remarks against the judiciary. Dhankhar questioned the judiciary setting a timeline for the president to make decisions and acting as a “super Parliament”, saying the Supreme Court cannot fire a “nuclear missile” at democratic forces.
Soon after, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said Parliament and assemblies should be shut if the apex court had to make laws. He also blamed Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna for “religious wars” in India.
PTI
