Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant has refused to meet the Congress-led INDIA bloc of Opposition parties, asking them to file a petition instead, ahead of their planned march to the Supreme Court to hand over a memorandum to the CJI over alleged electoral fraud.
Sources said that in his reply to the meeting request, the CJI said the issues they plan to raise are already sub judice, being heard in the Supreme Court.
The court has no authority to meet a delegation of any political party at the administrative level in this way, and its power is in fact to hear the petition and give a verdict, the CJI is learnt to have said. He also said the doors of the Supreme Court, as the top judicial body, are “open 24 hours a day for all”, and it is “committed to protecting the fundamental rights of every citizen”.
