New Delhi Feb 24 PTI The Delhi High Court Thursday refused to entertain an application challenging the maintainability of a petition which sought investigation against certain political leaders for allegedly delivering hate speeches which led to violence in February 2020 in the backdrop of protests against the Citizenship Amendment ActThe court said it was not allowing the intervention application and also refused to keep it pending for futureWe are telling you our decision it is dismissed You are not a necessary or a proper party We do not propose to allow you to intervene Dont try to turn it into a circus We are not keeping it pending Your client is a gate crasher a bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup Jairam Bhambhani saidThe court was hearing an intervention application filed on behalf of a lawyer in a pending petition filed by Shaikh Mujtaba Farooq seeking registration of FIR and investigation against BJP leaders Anurag Thakur Kapil Mishra Parvesh Verma and Abhay VermaAdvocate Pavan Narang representing the lawyer who filed the application claimed that petitioner Farooq has no locus standi to file the petition as according to a Supreme Court judgement PILs where the petitioners have not even gone to police should not be entertained The counsel alleged that it was not a public interest litigation but a publicity infused litigationTo this the bench shot back Who are you to say this You are not a concerned party Whether it is publicity for the petitioner or for you we do not know We are conscious of the Supreme Court judgement We are not permitting you to intervene Dont tell us what to do We know what is the scope of a PIL The court further said See the irony of the situation here that the intervenor files a plea that the petition is not maintainable There is no question of even allowing an impleadment to remain pending If the petitioner has no locus then the intervenor should be nowhere in the scene nowhere around Thereafter Narang sought to withdraw the application and it was permitted by the benchThe high court is seized of several petitions concerning the 2020 riots in north-east Delhi and alleged hate speeches by leaders which led to violence in the backdrop of protests against the CAAIt had earlier granted time to petitioners advocates for filing of applications for adding as parties certain political leaders to the pleas alleging that they delivered hate speeches which led to the 2020 violenceSenior advocates Colin Gonsalves and Sonia Mathur who appeared for petitioners Shaikh Mujtaba Farooq and Lawyers Voice respectively said that they have filed applications for the impleadment of the concerned persons to their petitions seeking registration of FIRs against the alleged wrongdoersHowever as Gonsalves application was not on record the court directed the registry to bring it on record subject to the petitioner removing the objections and listed the matter for further hearing on February 28These petitions are in the nature of cross PILs This is the new trend the court orally observedPetitioner Farooq has sought registration of FIR against BJP leaders Anurag Thakur Kapil Mishra Parvesh Verma and Abhay Verma The other petitioner has sought the registration of hate speech FIRs against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as well as Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi and former AIMIM MLA Waris PathanThe court had earlier questioned the petitioners if any order having criminal consequences can be passed in the absence of the parties getting affected as it emphasised that the presence of all necessary and proper parties was required for adjudicationAdditional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi appearing for Delhi Police had urged the court to defer hearing on the petitions until affected parties are impleaded and said he would bring on record a list of issues that survive at this stage in the pleasApart from seeking action against those who allegedly gave the hate speeches some pleas have also sought other reliefs which include setting up of an SIT FIRs against police officers who were allegedly involved in the violence and disclosure of persons arrested and detainedIn its response to these prayers police had earlier said it had already created three special investigation teams SIT under the crime branch and there was no evidence till now that its officers were involved in the violenceThe police in its affidavit earlier has said that investigations into the North East Delhi riots have not revealed any evidence till now that political leaders instigated or participated in the violenceIt had said its prima facie investigations revealed that this was not a case of any sporadic or spontaneous violence but appears to be a part of a well thought of conspiracy to destabilise the harmony in the societyThe petitions were transferred to the present bench from a bench headed by Chief Justice D N Patel through an administrative order of January 28Earlier while asking the parties to collate the issues the court had noted that the Supreme Court in an order of December 17 2021 has requested it to dispose of expeditiously preferably within three months a plea seeking registration of FIR against some politicians for their alleged hate speeches which purportedly led to the north-east Delhi riots last year PTI SKV SA

New Delhi Dec 17 PTI The Supreme Court on Friday requested the Delhi High Court to dispose of expeditiously preferably within three months a plea seeking registration of FIR against some politicians for their alleged hate speeches which purportedly led to the riots in north-east Delhi last yearThe plea seeking direction to register FIRs against those who had made hate speeches that allegedly incited the public to engage in violence last year came up for hearing before a bench of justices L N Rao and B R GavaiSenior advocate Colin Gonsalves appearing for three petitioners who are victims of the violence told the bench that despite the apex courts order of March last year asking the high court to dispose of the petition as expeditiously as possible no progress has been made in the matterWe are not inclined to entertain this writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India The writ petition is dismissed the bench saidColin Gonsalves senior counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that no progress has been made in the writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India before the high court though this court directed the high court to decide the writ petition expeditiously two years back the bench said in its orderIt requested the high court to dispose of the petition filed by the petitioners expeditiously preferably within three months from todayOn March 4 last year the apex court had asked the high court to hear on March 6 2020 a plea seeking lodging of FIRs against some BJP leaders for alleged hate speeches which purportedly led to the riots in DelhiIt had said the high court may explore the possibility of peaceful resolution of the disputeThe top court had passed the order last year while hearing a plea filed by 10 riot victims seeking registration of FIRs against BJP leaders Anurag Thakur Kapil Mishra Parvesh Verma and Abhay Verma and others for their alleged hate speechesOn Friday the apex court was hearing a plea filed through advocate Satya Mitra seeking action against political leaders whose hate speeches allegedly resulted in the riots in DelhiDuring the hearing Gonsalves told the bench that despite the apex court order to dispose of the plea expeditiously the matter related to the alleged hate speech has not progressed before the high courtWe are losing faith How can anyone have faith in this system he saidThe plea filed in the apex court also sought an independent investigation into the role of the Delhi Police in the violenceThe plea said the petitioners had earlier approached the apex court which had had on March 4 last year transferred the matter to the Delhi High Court and asked it to hear and dispose of the matter within a reasonable timeIt also sought a direction for inquiry by a retired judge into the communal attacks that took place and to identify the police personnel allegedly involved in the rioting and criminal conduct and thereafter direct that those officers be dismissed from service in accordance with the law PTI ABA ABA ANB ANB

New Delhi Nov 26 PTI The Supreme Court on Friday said it cannot just cast doubt on the COVID-19 vaccination programme in the country at this crucial stage and cannot afford the price of laxity of not vaccinating peopleThe top court said lakhs and crores of people have taken their vaccines and even the World Health Organization WHO has approved it and the whole world is getting vaccinatedA bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna asked the petitioners Ajay Kumar Gupta and others to serve the copy of the petition to the solicitor general and sought his responseDuring the hearing the bench said We do have a system guidelines in place for monitoring any adverse event following immunization There will always be dissenters but policy cannot be fashioned as per them We have to see the good of the nation as a whole The world has witnessed an unprecedented pandemic like of which we have not seen in our lifetime We cannot just cast doubt on the vaccination programme at this crucial stage It is of the highest national importance that people get vaccinated We cannot afford the price of laxity of not vaccinating the people the bench saidThe plea filed by Gupta and others alleged that thousands of deaths have taken place due to Adverse Events Following Immunization AEFI and sought direction to Centre to make administration of vaccine purely voluntary prior informed consent of person going for immunization and direction to Centre for seeking a report from European countries where Covishield was discontinued or use restrictedThe bench said that there will always be studies 5-10 years down the line about the vaccination programme but all that it wants is that people remain safe and fatalities are reducedSenior advocate Colin Gonsalves appearing for petitioners said that there have been thousands of cases of deaths and serious adverse events following vaccination which have been reported in various newspapers of the countryThe bench said Deaths cannot be attributed to vaccination alone there may be other reasonsGonsalves said it is possible that vaccination may not have been the cause but these deaths need to be investigated as to whether there was a clot in the brain or the heart due to the vaccination which led to a heart attack or brain strokeHe contended that under the guidelines of 2015 on Adverse Events Following Immunisation AEFI health workers such as Asha and Anganwadi workers had to go and visit the vaccinated person for a specific period and if there is death then a post-mortem was to be conducted under a specific protocolHe said that these guidelines have now been revised in 2020 and only passive surveillance is allowed based on a complaint of a person concerned or the family about any AEFI and that is the reason there has been an unbelievable number of official deaths in the countryJustice Chandrachud said You cannot just say unbelievable We have to look at the benefits of vaccination also We cannot just send a message across the board that there is some problem with the vaccination The World Health Organization WHO has approved it and lakhs and lakhs of people are taking it Vaccination is happening across the globe Even in developed countries like the USA vaccination programmes are going on We cannot just cast doubt on itThe bench after perusing the guidelines said that the revised guidelines also provide for tracking serious and minor AEFI and monthly progress reports are sought through peripheral health staff which includes Asha workersGonsalves said that in developed countries what is happening is active surveillance of AEFI and data collection is done through designated staff who do follow up for one year of the vaccinated personHere what we are doing is passive surveillance under which we are waiting for the family members to come forward and complain Some doctors have raised serious concern about the deaths happening in the country and questioned this methodology he saidThe bench said that there will always be different points of view but the question is when there are appropriate guidelines then why should the court interfere at this crucial stage of vaccinationThe bench said that it has something in mind and therefore the petition should be served to the Solicitor General and listed the matter after two weeksThe plea filed through advocate Satya Mitra said that in the backdrop of the growing number of deaths and serious adverse events being reported following COVID-19 vaccine administration it is seeking direction to actively follow up to record and investigate instances of deathsserious adverse events within 30 days following immunizationIt has also sought direction to advertise extensively in newspapers television radio and on social media that any person dying or suffering serious adverse events within 30 days of vaccination may complain directly to officials and to further direct the authorities to mandatorily record all the cases being reported for the payment of substantial compensation It has also sought publication of information related to Phase 12 and 3 trials of the vaccine PTI MNL MNL RKS RKS

New Delhi Sep 29 PTI The Supreme Court Wednesday ordered maintenance of status quo on the proposed demolition of around 40 jhuggis near the railway tracks in FaridabadA bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana passed the order after senior advocate Colin Gonsalves appearing for some slum dwellers mentioned the matter seeking urgent listing and said tractors and bulldozers are lining up at the site to demolish the slumsYou always come at the last moment said the bench also comprising justices Surya Kant and Hima KohliIt said the matter would be listed on Thursday before a bench headed by Justice A M KhanwilkarThe demolition would take place by then Tractors and bulldozers are lining up there I am mentioning as the Punjab and Haryana High Court has denied the relief the senior lawyer said adding the matter pertained to around 40 jhuggis near railways tracks at Faridabad in HaryanaThe bench said the matter would be listed for hearing on Thursday and till then the status quo be maintainedUpon being mentioned by Colin Gonsalves senior counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners we direct the registry to list the matter on September 30 2021 before a bench presided over by Justice A M Khanwilkar The parties are directed to maintain status quo till the next date of hearing the bench said in its order PTI ABA SJK ABA RKS RKS

New Delhi Aug 25 PTI The Supreme Court Wednesday extended till September 1 its interim order directing the authorities to maintain status quo on the demolition of around 5000 jhuggis in Gujarat for a Railway line projectA bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana had on Tuesday ordered status quo till August 25 after the matter was mentioned before it for urgent listingThe matter came up for hearing on Wednesday before a bench comprising justices A M Khanwilkar and Sanjiv KhannaAdditional Solicitor General K M Nataraj told the bench that he is in the process of seeking instruction from the authority and the matter may be taken up after two daysHe said the interim order passed in the matter may continue in the meantimeSolicitor General Tushar Mehta who also appeared in the matter said he was making the same requestAs requested by the Solicitor General list the matter on September 1 the bench said adding Interim order to continue till thenSenior advocate Colin Gonsalves appearing for the petitioner had yesterday mentioned the matter for urgent listing and told the apex court that in compliance with the Gujarat High Courts August 19 order the authorities were going to start the demolition work on Tuesday itself and evict over 10000 slum dwellersThe bench while ordering status quo had directed that the matter be listed before an appropriate bench on WednesdayGonsalves had told the bench that the high court had vacated its July 23 2014 interim order of status quo and permitted the Western Railways to go ahead with the Surat-Udhna up to Jalgaon third Railway line projectThe plea filed by Surat-based Utran se Besthan Railway Jhopadpatti Vikas Mandal has said that irreparable injury would be caused to the slum dwellers who are residing on the Railway land if they are not provided with alternate arrangement and once they would be evicted and made homeless their condition would become more miserable especially during the COVID-19 pandemicThe petition filed through advocate Satya Mitra has sought stay on the demolition of these jhuggis claiming that no breathing time has been given to the slum dwellers and authorities have been forcing them to vacate within 24 hoursIt has also sought direction to the authorities including the Centre and Gujarat government to rehabilitate the concerned slum dwellers It has sought a direction to the Gujarat government to rehabilitate all those families which the Western Railways proposes to evict under the existing state rehabilitation scheme within stipulated time frameIt said the Western Railways be directed to formulate a rehabilitation policy for slum dwellers of the proposed site within stipulated time frameIt has also sought to declare the Gujarat slum rehabilitation policy as discriminatory arbitrary and unconstitutional claiming that it does not include slum dwellers residing on the Railway landThe impugned order dated August 19 2021 violates the various judgments laid down by the Supreme Court of India in which the court has held Right to Housing as an important ingredient of Article 21 of the Constitution of India and has emphasized on the rehabilitation of the slum dwellers said the plea while challenging the high court orderIt alleged that the order of demolition without providing rehabilitation scheme for over 10000 slum dwellers is illegal inhuman and violates Article 21 protection of life and personal liberty of the ConstitutionIt said the petition has been filed for and on behalf of around 10000 slum dwellers who are living near the Railway lines in the city of SuratThey have been residing on Railway land for more than 60 years now Most of them have proof of residence with them Most of the residents have their Voter ID cards and Ration cards as proof of identity with them The slum settlements that would be demolished between Utran to Besthan are 21 in number it saidThe plea said the high court in an order passed in March 2016 in the case had said that unless a suitable and effective rehabilitation scheme of slum dwellers is framed by the Railway administration it is not possible to permit the demolition to take place The High Court has been asking the Western Railway to come up with the rehabilitation policy for the said site since 2016 Even after five years have passed the Railway authorities did not come up with any rehabilitation plan for the same it allegedIt said slum dwellers whose jhuggis are on the municipal corporation land are eligible for rehabilitation and are protected from eviction without rehabilitation but unfortunately those who are on the Railway land are not covered under the Gujarat Slum Rehabilitation Policy 2013 PTI ABA SA