New Delhi: A group of Supreme Court lawyers Wednesday sang the national song, Vande Mataram, read the Preamble of the Constitution in Hindi and chanted slogans such as Bharat Mata ki Jai while expressing support to the Constitution Amendment Act (CAA).
Their action comes a day after a number of senior Supreme Court lawyers, including Prashant Bhushan, Salman Khurshid and Kamini Jaiswal, read the Preamble on the apex court’s lawns Tuesday reiterating the Constitution’s goals and principles. Tuesday’s session, however, had lawyers stating that their actions were in no way related to the protests against the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Wednesday’s group had lawyers such as Vishnu Jain and Hari Shankar Jain of Akhil Bharat Adhivakta Parishad, among others, and they made it clear that it was a protest in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Copies of the lyrics of Vande Mataram and the Preamble in Hindi had been distributed among the lawyers, and the gathering dispersed immediately after reading it.
One of the participants, Archana Sharma, said all misconceptions about the CAA was created by opposition politicians. “We are proud of Vande Mataram and the Preamble. We cannot use it for our personal gains,” Sharma said. “There is no misconception about CAA but it is the Congress and politicians who are creating rumours about it.”
However, Congress leader and lawyer Salman Khurshid, who was a part of Tuesday’s gathering, said, “…people who believe in the Constitution now have to fight against those who have taken their oath on the Constitution.”
SC bar association condemns JNU violence
The Supreme Court Bar Association has meanwhile issued a statement condemning the violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University, where a group of masked people barged into the campus with rods and sticks, thrashing students and teachers, and damaging the infrastructure.
“The Executive Committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association today resolved to strongly condemn the violence against JNU students by anti-social elements,” the statement said. “It further resolved to condemn the inaction on the part of Delhi Police, and called upon authorities to act and ensure that the Rule of Law prevailed.”
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