The Supreme Court on Wednesday tried to contain a controversy over the sudden deletion of contempt petitions concerning the deputation of IPS officers to the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) from the cause list, saying “sometimes too much heat is generated out of nothing.”
The contempt petitions had suddenly been found deleted from the cause list on September 29 when a bench comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Manoj Misra was to begin hearing.
The apex court has now advanced joint hearing of connected cases to October 15.
The SC bench had sought an explanation from the registry on why the contempt matters, which had been judicially directed to be listed on September 29, were dropped from the cause list.
The CJI had then constituted a special bench to hear the matter, which was placed before it on Wednesday, along with a separate batch challenging a new law framed by the Centre formalising IPS deputations in CAPFs.
The bench accepted the registry’s explanation, but said the registry ought to have informed the bench that the matters were likely to be listed before a special bench.
The controversy had erupted on Tuesday after lawyers appearing on behalf of the petitioners informed the Justice Bhuyan-led bench that the matters, which had been specifically directed to be listed on September 29, had suddenly disappeared from the cause list. The bench had then directed the registry to explain why the case had been struck off despite a judicial order.
The special bench read out the registry’s note on Wednesday and said that counsel appearing for the Centre and writ petitioners had made a mentioning before the CJI on September 23 seeking that the contempt and writ petitions be placed before the same bench. The matter, however, was subsequently listed inadvertently before Justice Bhuyan’s bench on September 29, while the CJI had ordered that the two sets of cases be placed before a special bench.
Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the contempt petitioners, had termed the episode a matter of “institutional credibility.”
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