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A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing petitions filed by INDIA bloc parties and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on issues pertaining to the SIR and the CEC.
The court said the petitions would be tagged with an existing case on the issue. Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant said that some petitions before the court were on SIR whereas others were related to the protests.
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Supreme Court on INDI bloc's march
Moreover, the top court also issued notice to Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav and others on the petition against INDI bloc's march to the Supreme Court over SIR irregularities.
Senior advocate and BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia flagged the protests near the top court's premises. Calling it an "attempt to browbeat the court", Bhatia said that it was unacceptable that the apex court was being drawn into politics.
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“What happened in the Supreme Court should not have happened,” he said on the incident. He further highlighted the concerns of lawyers, saying that around 200 advocates signed a memorandum expressing anguish over what they described as an attempt to browbeat the court.
Responding to this, the CJI said, "We are not sitting in ivory towers. We know what statements they make outside and what they say in Court. We know everything." Bhatia then said that the vicinity and precincts of the Supreme Court have to be protected.
Moreover, the top court flagged "violation" of its October 9 directions, to which Solicitor General Mehta said that an unconditional apology is tendered in contempt cases as part of the procedure. He, however, added that tendering an unconditional apology does not imply that the Centre's actions cannot be defended.