In apex courtroom: SC to look into plea

Distressed at being denied entry to the Supreme Court by security men for carrying a kirpan, advocate Amritpal Singh Khalsa (in pic) on Thursday made a mentioning before the Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi. “Everyday I am humiliated, harassed because I am carrying kirpan. On Wednesday, I was denied entry due to it,” he said. The CJI said he will look into it.

The Sikhs regularly suffer in foreign countries for carrying the kirpan, but it happening in India’s highest court is shocking, the lawyer said. Singh has also sent a letter to the CJI detailing his grievances, pointing out he was denied entry into the Court premises on Wednesday because he was carrying the dagger, which was longer than six inches.

The letter says he had made a Right to Information (RTI) application seeking information on the size of kirpan allowed inside the SC. There is “no circular/date/information/judgment/order that permits/regulates the size" of the same, he said.

He stressed it is a fundamental right to wear and carry the dagger, and there is no rule/law regulating size of the same for entry into the court. His letter ends with the request to issue directions to security personnel to allow followers of the Sikh religion to carry a kirpan in the court complex.

The kirpan, a small sword or dagger, is one of the five articles of faith of the Sikh religion.