Says no petition was ever filed in SC
NEW DELHI: Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice Surya Kant on Friday denied reports claiming that he had refused to hear petition related to police action against student protesters. Speaking in open court, the CJI said the reports were “completely false” because no writ petition had been filed before the Supreme Court on the issue.
He clarified that the Court had not received any formal petition. According to him, what reached the Supreme Court was only a letter representation sent by a lawyer, which cannot be treated as a writ petition under the law.
Justice Surya Kant explained that until 10 AM on Friday, not even a single page of a writ petition had been officially filed before the Court. He stressed that without a proper filing, there was no legal case that could be listed for hearing.
The CJI questioned how a simple representation could be considered a writ petition and said the media should not have reported that the Court had refused to list a case that did not legally exist.
Expressing concern over the reports, the Chief Justice described the coverage as “irresponsible and reckless.” He said incorrect reporting had created the false impression that the Supreme Court had refused to hear a petition.
Addressing the issue in court, Justice Surya Kant said that over the past two days, false claims had circulated stating that a matter had been filed and that the Chief Justice had declined to list it.
He remarked that the media had reported the issue without verifying whether any petition had actually been submitted.
The clarification came while Senior Advocate Shoeb Alam was mentioning a different matter before the Supreme Court for listing. During the proceedings, the CJI took the opportunity to respond to the reports and explain the actual position regarding the student protest issue.
He repeated that only a representation had been sent by a lawyer and that such a communication could not automatically become a writ petition before the Court.
The issue traces back to July 22, when Advocate Narendra Mishra orally mentioned a letter petition addressed to the Chief Justice. The letter concerned police action taken during student protests.
At that time, the CJI declined to entertain the matter and told the lawyer, “Don’t waste our time, don’t waste your time.”
When the advocate said that he had videos showing the police action against the protesters, Justice Surya Kant responded that the Court was “not interested in videos” and added, “We don’t have time to watch.”
Agencies