For Haryana Violence Petition, A Rare Move By Supreme Court Chief Justice

New Delhi:

In an unusual move, a constitution bench of the Supreme Court – a special panel of at least five judges that can rule on matters involving the constitution – was interrupted as Chief Justice DY Chandrachud rostered an urgent hearing for a petition on the riots in Haryana’s Nuh district on Wednesday.

The court halted the constitution bench’s discussions on the now-scrapped Article 370 of the constitution – which gave special rights to the former state of Jammu and Kashmir – to take up a request calling for a ban on rallies held by right-wing groups Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

Following the violence that has claimed six lives, including two security personnel, and triggered widespread vandalism and arson, petitioner journalist Shaheen Abdullah’s lawyer, CU Singh, approached Justice Aniruddha Bose on Wednesday morning, requesting an early hearing.

Following Justice Bose’s advice to approach Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Mr Singh presented the case before him, emphasising the need for immediate intervention. While the Chief Justice was requested to consider the case in the morning, at lunchtime, CU Singh reiterated the urgency of the matter.

In response, Chief Justice Chandrachud – who was leading the constitution bench – went to his chamber, examined the documents related to the application and quickly formed a special bench consisting of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice SVN Bhatti, ordering the registry to list the matter for hearing at 2 pm, sources said.

Justice Sanjiv Khanna, a constitution bench member, participated in the Nuh case hearing, which concluded at 2:15 pm. The constitution bench resumed hearing on Article 370 at 2:20 pm.

In response to the petition on the Nuh situation, the Supreme Court directed the central and state governments to prevent any hate speech or violence during marches held by the VHP and Bajrang Dal following the communal clashes in Nuh.

The order by Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SV Bhatti also asked for the deployment of additional police or paramilitary forces and the installation of CCTV cameras in sensitive areas.

Six deaths, including two home guards, have been linked to communal violence in Nuh after a mob attempted to stop a VHP procession on July 31.

The state government has arrested 116 people to date, and 23 demonstrations have been organised by the VHP and Bajrang Dal across the National Capital Region (NCR).