New Delhi, Oct. 12 -- Convening a meeting on issues which are sub judice before the Supreme Court would contravene the principle of separation of powers and is "incompatible with established ethics and judicial propriety", Chief Justice of India Surya Kant wrote to leaders of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge.
The CJI said this in a letter declining the request for a meeting by Kharge and Gandhi who sought to submit a memorandum on issues concerning the Chief Election Commissioner, Election Commission of India, the alleged arbitrary arrest of several students, closure of metro stations and cancellation of trains.
In his letter to Gandhi and Kharge, the CJI declined the meeting on Monday and told them that discussing pending cases would be improper and urged them to file a petition with the court either physically or online.
"At the very outset, it may be noted that the issues referred to hereinabove are already sub judice before the Supreme Court of India.
"Therefore, convening a meeting to discuss pending cases would wholly contravene the principle of Separation of Powers, an intrinsic facet of the basic structure doctrine of the Constitution of India, and would be incompatible with the established ethics and judicial propriety.
"In this vein, I also wish to remind you that within our constitutional framework, the Supreme Court of India is not endowed with any administrative powers to deal with the issues highlighted in your letter," he said.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.