Supreme Court asks Rahul Gandhi to explain his actions regarding Oct 12 march to top court

The Supreme Court has asked Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to explain his actions regarding the protest march to the top court on October 12.

This comes as the apex court objected to the conduct of one of the thirteen petitioners of the INDIA bloc who moved the plea challenging the manner of ECI’s SIR of voter rolls. The court was hearing a batch of pleas linked to the October 10 protests.

The court had sought the ECI’s response. “We are issuing notice on the plea, but we will seek explanation of the conduct of one of the petitioners,” the court remarked, referring to Rahul Gandhi.

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Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant said "nobody can browbeat" the judiciary. He told senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared for Rahul Gandhi, "He (Rahul Gandhi) will have to give an explanation."

Four advocates had filed a plea seeking a uniform framework to regulate political protests around the Supreme Court and high courts and a complete prohibition of demonstrations within the court premises. The plea sought criminal contempt proceedings against Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra.

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“We are not sitting in ivory towers. We know what statements they make outside and what they say in Court. We know everything,” the CJI said.

Moreover, the Court directed all law enforcement agencies to preserve any CCTV footage or other digital footage or material collected by them.