SC bar association chief questions 'Extraordinary Urgent Listing' of Arnab Goswami's case in SC
In a communication to Supreme Court Secretary General Sanjeev S Kalgaonkar, SCBA President and senior advocate Dushyant Dave said: "I address this letter to you (Secretary General) as the President of the SCBA to lodge strong protest with regard to the subject matter which has been listed for tomorrow (Wednesday). I am not writing this letter to anyway interfere in with his (Goswami's) rights to move the Supreme Court. The serious issue here is selective listing of matters that the Registry under your leadership is indulging in for last eight months during the Covid-19 pandemic."
FollowSupreme Court Bar Association President Dushyant Dave has written to Secretary-General of the Supreme Court questioning the 'Extraordinary Urgent Listing' of Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami's petition.Â
In a communication to Supreme Court Secretary General Sanjeev S Kalgaonkar, SCBA President and senior advocate Dushyant Dave said: "I address this letter to you (Secretary General) as the President of the SCBA to lodge strong protest with regard to the subject matter which has been listed for tomorrow (Wednesday). I am not writing this letter to anyway interfere in with his (Goswami's) rights to move the Supreme Court. The serious issue here is selective listing of matters that the Registry under your leadership is indulging in for last eight months during the Covid-19 pandemic."
"While thousands of citizens remain in jails, languishing for long periods while their matters filed before the Honble Supreme Court are not getting listed for weeks and months, it is, to say the least, deeply disturbing as to how and why every time Mr Goswami approaches the Supreme Court, his matter gets listed instantly. Is there any special Order or Direction from the Chief Justice of India and the Master of the Roaster in this regard? It is quite well known that such extraordinarily urgent listings of matters cannot and does not take place without specific orders from the Chief Justice. Or is it that as the administrative head you or the Registrar listing is giving special preference to Goswami," Dave asked.
"The subject matter was filed yesterday, it got instant diary number, though not final, and it is listed for Wednesday. This is a gross abuse of administrative power, whosoever has exercised it on administrative side. It gives an impression that clients represented by certain lawyers are getting special treatment, which does not speak well if the great Institution, that the Supreme Court is," he added.
Dave contention has not gone down with some who claim that this is not the first time that a journalist's case had come up before the Apex court for urgent hearing.Â
A report in Opindia pointed out how the Supreme Court scheduled a special sitting to hear the sedition case filed against HW News journalist Vinod Dua and eventually grant him relief in June 2020. The report also noted how Allahabad High Court promptly granted anticipatory bail to The Wire found Siddharth Varadhrajan after the UP police registered an FIR against him for spreading fake news about Yogi Adityanath.
