SC to hear review pleas on SC/ST recall verdict on May 3
New Delhi, April 27: The Supreme Court will hold further hearing on May 3, on Centre's plea seeking the recall of its judgement holding that arrest on a complaint under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act is not mandatory.
A bench headed by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said that it would hear the Centre's plea after Attorney General K.K. Venugopal told the bench that in compliance of the court's April 3 order all parties have submitted their written submissions.
The Centre had moved the top court for the review of the judgement that generated a lot of protests including by the lawmakers, who felt that the Supreme Court verdict had diluted the provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act meant to protect the people of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
The judgement sought to be reviewed was pronounced by a bench of Justice Goel and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit on March 20.
In the last hearing of the matter on April 3, the top court had refused to stay the operation of the judgement but made it clear that the compensation can be paid to victims of alleged atrocities under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, even without an FIR being registered.
Refusing to budge on its five directions issued on March 20, the court had in the last hearing said: "We are not against the law or its implementation" and the directions in no way "diluted" the law but were aimed to protect the innocent people from being punished.
It described its direction for preliminary inquiry before an FIR is registered on a complaint as "filter" to protect the innocent, the court said, "We don't want to deprive anyone of his rights under (the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act) but we don't want an innocent is punished."
The court had said in its April 3 hearing that all they have done is to read Article 21 of the Constitution -- guaranteeing protection of life and personal liberty -- in the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and that should happen with every statute.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
K’taka HC judge whose controversial remarks triggered controversy expresses regret before open court
Bengaluru: Karnataka High Court judge, Justice V Srishananda, on Saturday expressed regret in open court after facing backlash over his controversial remarks in his recent court hearings, reported Bar and Bench.
Two purported video clips from Justice V Srishananda’s court hearing that show him making inappropriate comments went viral across social media platforms.
On Saturday, Justice Srishananda invited members of the Advocates Association, Bengaluru, and senior lawyers to his courtroom at 2:30 PM, where he read out a note expressing regret for inappropriate comments.
Quoting Advocates Association President Vivek Subba Reddy, Bar and Bench wrote, “He expressed regret for the comments and clarified that it was not his intention to offend any community or members of the Bar. He also requested the association to relay this message to all members of the Bar.”
Reddy further stated, “We also advised him to encourage young lawyers in the courtroom and refrain from making any irrelevant remarks during hearings.”
Another senior lawyer present during the session confirmed to the legal news portal that Justice Srishananda also addressed comments directed at a woman lawyer, who was seen in one of the videos being reprimanded by the judge. The judge Justice Srishananda clarified that his remarks were not intended to target her (woman lawyer) specifically, but rather pertained to the appellant she was representing. “He explained that his comment was meant to imply that the appellant seemed to know a lot about the other party,” said the lawyer.
In addition, Justice Srishananda assured those present that he would avoid making such comments in the future.
The controversy came to light on September 19, when a video clip from an August 28 Court hearing surfaced on social media, showing Justice Srishananda referring to a Muslim-majority sub-locality in Bengaluru’s Goripalya as "Pakistan." Hours later, another video from the same courtroom emerged, in which the judge was seen making a gender-insensitive remark.
Following outrage over the viral videos, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, along with Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant, and Hrishikesh Roy, on September 20 took a suo motu cognizance and sought a report from the Karnataka High Court Registrar General in connection with the viral video.
