New Delhi: Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde on Monday said that the court was not equipped to handle the public “pressure” expecting them to step-in and deal with the situation arising from the communal riots in Delhi and prevent them from recurring.
Stating that courts can deal with a situation after it happens, Chief Justice Bobde, heading a bench comprising Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Surya Kant said, “Courts come on to the scene after the thing is done and courts have not been able to prevent such thing.”
The oral observations by the Chief Justice Bobde came in the course of a mentioning by senior counsel Colin Gonsalves, appearing for a group of victims of the recent riots in Delhi, seeking an urgent hearing of their plea.
CJI Bobde said, “We are not saying people should die. That kind of pressure we are not equipped to handle. We cannot stop things from happening. We cannot give preventive reliefs. We feel a kind of pressure on us... We can only deal with the situation after it occurs, the kind of pressure on us, we can’t handle that... it’s like Court is responsible.”
Pointing to the limitations of the court, CJI said that they were reading media reports and are aware of the kind of comments being made.
Expressing his “disappointment” over Delhi HC adjourning the hearing on a petition relating to Delhi violence by six weeks, Gonsalves pointed out that earlier the HC adjourned a matter seeking inquiry into Jamia violence by several weeks.
