SC to hear plea seeking ban on political rallies in court
The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear on October 15 a plea seeking a complete ban on political demonstrations within the court premises and contempt proceedings against political leaders who obstruct the judicial system.
The plea flagged a huge crowd in the apex court on Monday, when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and others marched to the top court to file a petition related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The plea was mentioned before the court by senior advocate and BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana agreed to list the plea on Thursday, along with other petitions related to protests in Delhi.
Seeking an urgent listing, Bhatia said the plea has been filed by a lawyer regarding what had happened in the apex court on Monday.
It has made the Centre, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and others as respondents.
On Monday, Gandhi and 10 other prominent opposition leaders, accompanied by their supporters, reached the Supreme Court to file a petition over alleged large-scale voter deletions and irregularities in the SIR of electoral rolls. The National Capital has witnessed several protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the SIR process.
The plea has sought the constitution of an independent committee, headed by a retired apex court judge and assisted by technical experts and other citizens of eminence, to conduct a time-bound, independent audit of deletions and modifications made during the SIR.
It has sought a direction to ensure that no elector is deleted from the electoral rolls without notice and a reasonable hearing in accordance with the law, and also to ensure that eligible persons in Punjab and other states going to polls are permitted to seek inclusion in the voter lists until the last date permitted by law.
