New Delhi: Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Dushyant Dave on Tuesday wrote a letter to secretary general of the top court lodging strong protest on selective listing of journalist Arnab Goswami’s interim bail plea in the 2018 case of alleged abetment to suicide of an interior designer, before a vacation bench on November 11.
Goswami’s bail plea will be taken up for hearing on Wednesday before a vacation bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Indira Banerjee.
Dave clarified that he has nothing personal against Goswami and he is not writing this letter to anyway interfere in with his rights to move the Supreme Court as like all citizens, the editor-in-chief of Republic TV also has right to seek justice from the highest court.
The serious issue here is selective listing of matters that the registry under your leadership is indulging in for last eight months during COVID pandemic. While thousands of citizens remain in jails, languishing for long periods while their matters filed before the Supreme Court are not getting listed for weeks and months, it is, to say the least, deeply disturbing as to how and why every time Goswami approaches the Supreme Court, his matter gets listed instantly, Dave said in his letter.
The SCBA chief further questioned Is there any special order or direction from the Chief Justice of India and the Master of the Roaster in this regard? and added that it is quite well known that such extraordinarily urgent listings of matters cannot and does not take place without specific orders from the Chief Justice .
He said, Or is it that as the administrative head you (secretary general) or the registrar listing is giving special preference to Goswami?
Dave said that it is on record, that time and again he has received requests from various Advocates-on-Record (AORs) to the effect that the matters filed by them are not getting listed for weeks and months though very urgent and involving serious issues requiring Court’s urgent intervention including bail matters.
They (advocates) have even complained, giving names, that certain AORs matters get instant listing while they have to wait in queue for long time, he added.
I must place on record that in few cases you have kindly helped in getting such matters listed. But that is not the issue. Issue here is why is this selective listing taking place when system is supposedly computerised and is to work automatically? Why is it that despite the same, matters are getting circulated and that too before only few benches? Why is there no fool proof system to be just and fair to all Citizens and all AORs? Dave questioned.
He said that even someone like former union minister P Chidambaram, could not get similar speed listing and had to spend long months in jail till finally the Supreme Court declares that he deserved to be bailed out .
So, likes of Goswami gets special treatment while ordinary Indians are made to suffer, including Imprisonment, which are many times illegal and unauthorised, Dave pointed out.
He said Goswami’s plea against the Bombay High Court order was filed yesterday, it got instant diary number, though not final, and it is listed for tomorrow (November 11).
This is a gross abuse of administrative power, whosoever has exercised it on administrative side. It gives an impression that clients represented by certain lawyers are getting special treatment, which does not speak well of the great institution, that the Supreme Court is, he said.
Requesting that till fool proof system is installed to ensure urgent listing on well-known principles and till the matters filed by various AORs are listed, Dave said that the secretary general should not allow Goswami’s plea to be heard.
He requested the secretary general to place his letter before the bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud which is scheduled to take up Goswami’s plea.
Also read: Arnab Goswami moves Supreme Court seeking interim bail in 2018 abetment to suicide case
Top legal guns boom when a crorepati well connected with political heavy weight goes to top court for relief, which he gets in ordinary course of time as legal luxury. What about the agony and anguish of victims family.Supreme Court judge on his birthday has done grave injustice to them.Law is a jugglery of words.
Its unfortunate to see the letter from Dushyant Dave. Hope he ll understand now with the Supreme courts observation, how devastating you guys have done to Arnav for no reason. I wish the Maharashtra govt is fired and president rule is applied . Anyway, this govt was not chosen by the people in the first place, just for the power, they compromised their respective ethics. Well, not to say anything about Mumbai police. They are all well known now in the whole world.
Advocate Dave, being a lawyer cannot directly question the mAter of Roster’s intentions for the past 4 years It is clear that the CJI’s have totally been arm twisted into supporting the BJP. And we talk about justice in this country.
An apt reply has been given by wife of Arnab Goswami, citing several cases where the Supreme Court has heard matters with extreme urgency. On 29th Augusta, 2019 , a petition in Romila Thapar vs. Union of India was taken up by the honourable court on the same day. Mr. Dave defended Thapar as her lawyer. .Mr Vinod Dua’s case was also taken up urgently during Covid pandemic. Mr. Dave did not protest. There are many such cases where the Supreme Court has heard cases on urgent basis on humanitarian grounds. I don’t know why Mr. Dave is protesting in a case in which he has no locus standii. I do not know if Mr. Arnab Goswami is guilty or not or whether he deserved to be released on bail. But certainly this seems to a malicious attempt to prejudice the case, though the attempt is bound to fail as the Justices of the Apex Court shall not be influenced by such tactics and will examine the case on its merit. Let justice prevail, notwithstanding what Mr. Dave thinks.
I wish SC has a transparent policy and mechanism to handle such cases. I think cases concerning national security and gross abuse of human/ personal liberty of an individual may be made an exception. This should be available to poorest of the poor and not only to a resourceful individual who can afford services of one of the highest paid and renowned advocate. We must have faith in District, High Court and SC and the established time-tested procedures …..and the faith and respect would come if impartiality is reflected in their decisions/judgements………..we need to strengthen the institutions… …. ….. responsibilities lies on all but the main responsibility lies on individuals who are occupying the positions in the institutions….
Bombay high court & Allahabad high court needs overhauling. They are selective and refused to work longer hours to clear the caseload before them, Supreme court should establish a procedure to review lower courts. People should not have to go to supreme court to get justice foe such things as bail.
if maha govt can get him arrested without following any protocols, that is okay with you hypocrites?
Dushyant Dave , a nehru family sycophant had no problem when Bombay High court was rushing to provide bail to Teesta Setalvad and protect her from police custody.
This shakes the ordinary citizen’s faith in the impartiality and fairness of the system.
These lefty goons have been getting supreme court to hear their pleas even over phone and gettting bail within an hour for urban naxals and anti-nationals. What are these bozos complaining about?
No use crying over milk one hime/herself has spilt. The use (or misuse, as is being alleged here by the trade union of the SC) only makes us shrug and think of how the NJAC – ratified by the PM, Prez, Parliament and 16 states and enacted – was struck down on a PIL by some advocates, or when the court at opened at 3 am for a condemned terrorist, or several times in the middle of the night for the Karnataka elections which became a nightly comedy show. People only respect institutions that truly uphold the letter and spirit of the law, not play with it over decades per their personal preferences. And the less said about “gross abuse of administrative power” after the Maha nightmare that has unfolded in plain daylight for months now, the better. Though, good to have those who corrupted the system now fight to fix it, once the ‘others’ figured out how to beat them at their own game. And till the collegium and dynasty succession exist in our courts, we simply cannot take it seriously except for the mortal fear of ‘contempt of court’.
No such questiosn were raised when Chidambaram abused the SC, Why?