“We are accused of encroaching on parliament and performing functions”: Judge Gawai

Judge Gawai said, “Who can control it? It’s to make the union structure the regulations in this regard.” Document | Image source: Hindu

“As we said, we are accused of violating parliamentary and administrative functions,” Supreme Court Justice BR Gavai said on Monday (April 21, 2025).

Justice Gaway, who led the judge, also included Justice Augustine George Masih, who made a similar observation on another matter.

Despite the recent violence in West Bengal during the anti-Waker law protests, another request has sought direction from the Centre to take appropriate steps to prohibit sexually explicit and pornographic content on OTT and social media platforms.

Judge Gawai said as he heard a confession to online content: “Who can control it? It is to enable the union to structure regulations in this regard.”

Judge Gawai told advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain that he is now criticizing us for interfering in administrative functions, legislative functions. ”

Mr Jain said it was a “very serious matter” and the bench released next week.

Earlier in the day, Mr Jain mentioned an application, filed in another pending PIL in 2021, seeking presidential domination in West Bengal following the violence following the Assembly polls and urged the bench to be heard on the main petition, as well as on the main petition.

Mr Jain said the 2021 plea was listed and was listed on Tuesday (April 22, 2025), and the new application also raised more violence in West Bengal.

“In tomorrow’s list, item 42 is related to the implementation of presidential rule in West Bengal. The petition was filed by me. In this petition, I have submitted IA (application) instructions and photos, resulting in some violence in West Bengal,” he said.

Mr Jain said paramilitary forces need to be deployed and immediate action is taken.

He mentioned Article 355 of the Constitution, which deals with the duties of trade unions to protect states from external aggression and internal harassment, and said the Supreme Court could call for reports on what is happening in the state.

Mr Jain said the Supreme Court had previously issued notices on the 2021 petition.

“When things come up, I will prove how violence happens,” he said.

Justice Gawai then said: “As we are called, we are accused of encroaching on parliamentary and administrative functions.”

The new request urges the court to appoint a three-member committee led by a retired court judge to inquire about incidents involving violence, human rights violations and crimes from 2022 to April 2025, especially the recent violence in West Bengal in West Bengal.

The application also seeks instructions from the Centre to issue the necessary instructions to West Bengal under Article 355.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey recently made derogatory remarks about the judiciary.

Mr Dankhar questioned the timeline for the judiciary to make decisions for the president and serve as a “super parliament”, saying the Supreme Court cannot launch “nuclear missiles” at the Democratic Forces.

Not long after, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said that if the Supreme Court had to enact the law, it should close the parliament and parliament. He also accused Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna of “religious war” in India.

In July 2021, the Supreme Court agreed to hear about the PIL, which also sought direction from the Centre to deploy armed/paramilitary forces in West Bengal. It then issued a notice to the Centre, West Bengal and the General Election Committee.

On April 14, the newly enacted WAQF (Amendment) act-related violence shocked the Bhangar area of ​​24 Parganas district in South West Bengal, even as police claimed that the situation in the legal and orders in the previous Riot Epicenter in Murshidabad was still largely under control.

At least three people were killed in public violence in parts of the Merhidabad region and hundreds were left homeless during protests against the WAQF (Amendment) bill from April 11 to 12.

Meanwhile, on Monday (21 April 2025), a separate judge of the Apex Court allowed a petitioner to withdraw a request to conduct a court surveillance investigation into the WAQF (Amendment) Act in West Bengal.

Justices Surya Kant and N. Koiswar Singh allowed petitioner advocate Shashank Shekhar Jha to withdraw the petition while granting him freedom to make a new request.