New Delhi, Sept. 23 -- A heated exchange broke out in the Supreme Court on Tuesday between Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and senior advocate S Muralidhar during the hearing of TM Krishna's challenge to the penal protection accorded to Vande Mataram. The exchange began after Muralidhar argued that questions concerning a national symbol should ideally evolve through public opinion and consensus rather than through a "top-down" legislative approach. Intervening, Mehta said: "Law-making is as per the Constitution. Law-making cannot be as per the Naxalites' idea." Muralidhar immediately objected and sought withdrawal of the expression. "This does not behove a law officer. I have never heard a law officer use this expression," he said. Mehta declined to withdraw it, saying he was referring to an ideology and not labelling anyone personally. "I am not sorry about it," he said when Muralidhar pressed for a withdrawal. Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde then remarked: "To think is not to be a Naxalite." The CJI-led bench then sought to steer the hearing back to the constitutional issue, saying it had not taken note of the exchange. The discussion, however, resurfaced after Muralidhar, a former high court judge, registered his "strongest protest". The bench then stressed the importance of constitutional institutions and equal rights, with Justice Bagchi observing that even a person alleged to be a "naxalite" and a terrorist retain constitutional rights and must be dealt with through law. "We have continuously fought against extra-constitutional forces," said the bench, emphasising that the credibility of constitutional courts rests on constitutional decision-making and due process....