LAWYERS MAY USE NIRBHAYA TO NAIL CJI

The Supreme Court lawyers cut up with Chief Justice H L Dattu on listing of old pending cases at very short notice may use the Nirbhaya case to nail Chief Justice H L Dattu for wrong priorities in clearing the backlog. Petitions of convicts, including Mukesh Singh whose interview to a BBC film-maker rocked the nation, are lying with the Apex Court for almost one year and in contrast the low priority old cases that were not put on the cause list for many years are suddenly listed, giving very little time to the lawyers and litigants to prepare for the hearing.

The Supreme Court Bar Association has already convened a meeting of its executive on Tuesday to adopt a resolution against harassment caused to the lawyers by sudden listing of the cases.

It has added to the agenda the Nirbhaya case to highlight the Apex Court showing no interest in speeding up the case that should have been dealt fast to send the four convicts to gallows at the earliest.

Association president Dushyant Dave, a senior advocate, pointed out that the fast-track trial court began the proceedings within a month on January 17, 2013 and handed out death sentences to all the accused and Delhi High Court also showed the urgency by disposing their appeals and confirmed their sentences on March 13, 2014. The convicts moved the Supreme Court within two days of the High Court verdict and the Supreme Court needs to confirm their sentences after hearing the appeals, but nothing done to speed up the hearing except to stay the hanging to it decides the appeals.

Dave pointed out that the Apex Court and its registry could not get sufficient time to set up a special bench to hear the case, except for a brief hearing on August 25 last year when the Bench of Justices Ranjana Prakash Desai and N V Ramana adjourned it in view of the new rules requiring the death sentences to be heard by a 3judge Bench.

No hearing held after that date and no fresh date has been given. Dave chided the Apex Court for the inexplicable delay.

"Brutal gang rape and murder shook the conscience of the Indian society, but perhaps not that of the judges of the highest court. Priority should have been given to such matters," he said, pointing out how the same court decides expeditiously cases like the 2G and coal scams of the bail applications of politicians.

The association will cite the delay in the Nirbhaya case in the resolution it has drafted on the manner of hearing on matters by some of the judges in a hurried and selected manner while several priority matters do not get even listed for speedy hearing.