The Chief Justice of India SA Bobde’s comments last Monday, on hearing a petition seeking FIRs against politicians and others over hate speeches, have come in for widespread comment. CJI S.A. Bobde expressed the courts’ helplessness in preventing riots, adding that the judiciary cannot handle the kind of pressure that was being brought on it to ensure peace in the aftermath of the worst riots in Delhi in decades.
“People think this (courts) can stop rioting… We can only deal with it after it has occurred… The kind of pressure on us, we cannot handle… We wish peace… But we know there are some limitations on judicial power,” the CJI-led bench was quoted as saying during the hearing.
Does such helplessness doesn’t behove India’s top constitutional court, which has a history of going the extra mile to safeguard the rights and liberties of citizens?
Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC SY Qureishi) has been sarcastic on twitter. Here is what he says :
Supreme Court can’t show weakness when people’s lives lie in the hands of murderous mobs
With due respect, both SC and Lok Sabha reminding us of Bollywood movies where police appears only AFTER the action is over!
https://t.co/XvNhJ2ElNa— Dr. S.Y. Quraishi (@DrSYQuraishi) March 4, 2020