Sushree Mohanty
The Supreme Court has declined to entertain pleas seeking setting up a panel headed by former judges of the Apex court to conduct a time-bound probe into the violence during the tractor rally in Delhi on the Republic Day.
A bench, presided by Hon’ble Chief Justice SA Bobde, asked Advocate Vishal Tiwari to give a representation to the central government for taking necessary action in the matter.
“We are sure that the government is inquiring into it (violence) and they are doing it. We have read the statement made by the Prime Minister in the press that the law will take its own course. That means they are inquiring into it. We do not want to interfere in it at this stage,” the bench said.
Advocate Tiwari had filed a petition in the top court wherein he urged to set up a commission headed by a retired apex court judge to inquire into the incident.
The bench, also comprising Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, refused to entertain two similar pleas related to the tractor rally violence and asked the applicants to file representation with the government for further investigation.
The court declined to entertain another PIL seeking directions for an NIA probe against anti-social elements, part of the tractor rally, who engaged in violence on the streets of the national capital on Republic Day.
The plea, filed through Advocates Shashank Shekhar Jha and Manju Jetley Sharma, said the attack on the Red Fort and the national flag on Republic Day needs immediate attention. “The protestors cannot be allowed to put the government and people at ransom and undertake violence in the name of protest. The freedom of expression and protest cannot be absolute and must consider the rights of others,” stated the plea.
Meanwhile, investigations are being carried out in Delhi and Punjab to look for the accused who participated in the violent clashes between police and farmers during the Republic Day tractor rally.
According to Delhi Police, 44 FIRs have been registered till date in connection with the violence during tractor march and a total of 122 persons have been detained.
A scene of total chaos was unleashed upon Delhi on the Republic Day as the tractor rally by the protesting farmers went off the assigned course and rolled into the iconic Red Fort.
A protester died and over 400 security forces were injured in the incident as unruly protesters broke through barricades, fought with the police, overturned vehicles and hoisted religious flags from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort.
