The Supreme Court in the Pegasus charges West Bengal Justice Madan B. The proceedings of Lokur Inquiry Commission have been stayed.
The reason for the adjournment is apparently because the apex court has seized the matter and has itself constituted an expert technical committee under the supervision of former apex court judge, Justice RV Raveendran, to examine the allegations that the Center used Israeli software, Pegasus, to conduct spying. Citizen.
The Justice Raveendran Committee was constituted by the court in October to ensure “complete transparency and efficiency”. The court had asked the committee to submit its report “expeditiously” and posted the next hearing after eight weeks. The matter may come up again after the Christmas holidays.
But committees set up by courts in the past in a serious attempt to uncover the truth or to disturb the peace have had mixed results.
Take the case of the October 2020 order of the court in the matter of stubble burning. The court constituted a one-member committee of Justice Lokur to protect Delhi NCR from air pollution caused by stubble burning in the neighboring states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana. The court said Justice Lokur would be assisted by student volunteer forces deployed from the National Cadet Corps, the National Service Scheme and the Bharat Scouts and Guides.
But the order came to nothing and it was stayed by the court itself when the Center promulgated the Air Quality Management Commission in the National Capital Region and the 2020 adjoining areas ordinance.
Again, the court, keeping in mind the best of intentions, constituted a four-member committee of experts to “hear the grievances of farmers on agricultural laws and the views of the government and make recommendations”.
In an 11-page order dated January 2021, a three-judge bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India Sharad A Bobde had hoped that the committee “could create a conducive environment and improve trust and confidence in the society”. Farmer”. It was informed that the committee has given its report.
Meanwhile, the government repealed three controversial agricultural laws and the protesting farmers went home. Recently, one of the committee members, Anil Ghanwat, told the media that he had written to the CJI to make the committee’s report public. Mr Ghanvat said the report could play a certain “educational role”.
A report by former Supreme Court judge, Justice AK Patnaik, on the existence of a “big conspiracy” against the judiciary and former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, who is currently an MP and writer, is also under wraps.
Though the court said that such a conspiracy “cannot be completely ruled out”, it has decided to close the suo motu case registered in 2019 titled ‘In Re: Matter of Great Public Importance Touching on the Independence of Judiciary’. decided to. It said it would be difficult. Now to get the electronic evidence to establish the conspiracy. The court ordered Justice Patnaik’s report to be “put back in a sealed cover”.
In another case, the Supreme Court had to dismiss a petition to dissolve its commission of inquiry headed by former Supreme Court judge, Justice BS Chauhan. This commission was entrusted by the court to investigate the allegations of encounter of Uttar Pradesh Police with history-sheeter Vikas Dubey. Ghanshyam Upadhyay, a Mumbai-based lawyer, opposed the commission’s choice of court. Mr Upadhyay had referred to published articles about the relatives of Justice Chouhan being part of the ruling BJP in the state. But the court remained adamant, not allowing a shadow of doubt to cast a shadow on Justice Chauhan’s own choice for the job.
In the past months, the Supreme Court Justice VS Sirpurkar Commission had repeatedly sought extension due to the pandemic to complete the investigation into the deaths of four men accused of gang-rape and murder of a veterinarian in an alleged encounter with the Hyderabad Police. . 6 December 2019.
In the Ramjanmabhoomi dispute case, the formation of an arbitration committee to speak with the parties did not prevent adverse litigation in the court and a final decision in favor of the Hindus.
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