Nithyakalyani Narayanan. V
In a rare move, a constitution bench of the Supreme Court was interrupted as Chief Justice DY Chandrachud rostered an urgent hearing for a petition on the conflicts in Haryana’s Nuh district on August 2nd. The court paused the bench’s discussions on the now-cancelled Article 370 of the Constitution, to take up a request for banning rallies held by right-wing groups Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).
The riot took six lives, including two security personnel, and triggered widespread vandalism and arson. Petitioner journalist Shaheen Abdullah’s lawyer, Advocate CU Singh, approached Justice Aniruddha Bose on Wednesday morning and requested for an early hearing.
Following Justice Bose’s advice, the counsel presented the case before the Chief Justice, highlighting 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.
The Chief Justice, who was leading the constitution bench, went to his chamber and examined the documents with regard to the application. He quickly formed a special bench with Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti, ordering the registry to list the matter for hearing at 2 pm. The hearing was concluded at 2:15 pm and the constitution bench resumed hearing on Article 370 at 2:20 pm.
For the Nuh communal clashes riots, 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 riots. The bench also directed to deploy additional police or paramilitary forces and to install CCTV cameras in sensitive areas.
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.