Court denies permanent exemption for CM in riots case
A local court here has refused to grant Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma permanent exemption from appearance in court for hearings in the 13-year-old Gopalganj communal riots case.
In a stern warning, Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Tuesday told a lawyer not to mess up with his authority in the listing of the matters and the date on which they will be taken up. “Don’t mess around with my authority,” he said to the lawyer who was trying to mention a matter to get an early date of hearing.
As the advocate mentioned the matter for early listing of his case, the chief justice said the matter is already listed for hearing on April 17. The advocate then sought to mention the case before another bench. Reacting to this, the CJI asked the counsel, “Your date is 17th, you want to mention it before another bench to get a date of 14th?”
The advocate then told the bench that a similar matter was taken up on Monday by the court and some fresh matters were also mentioned.
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“If it is listed for 17th, it will come on 17th. Don’t mess around with my authority,” said the CJI.
The CJI further told him, “Do not play these tricks with me. You can’t mention it here and then elsewhere for an earlier date.”
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