SC dismisses allegation of not hearing ordinary citizens

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said the apex court has been hearing the citizens of the country and individuals from Kashmir on the issue of abrogation of Article 370

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday dismissed the allegation that it does not hear ordinary citizens and asserted that it has been hearing the “voice of the nation”.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said the apex court has been hearing the citizens of the country and individuals from Kashmir on the issue of abrogation of Article 370.

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The bench also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was responding to lawyer Mathews Nedumpara who was present in the court and said this court is not hearing ordinary lawyers.

CJI Chandrachud said Nedumpara sent an email to the Supreme Court in which he claimed the top court has been hearing only Constitution bench matters, which have no public interest involved, and not the cases of ordinary citizens.

The CJI said, Mr. Nedumpara, I don’t want to join issue with you but the Secretary General has informed me of the email you have written to the Supreme Court in which you have said that the Supreme Court should not hear the Constitution bench matters and hear only non-constitution bench matters.” The lawyer said he wrote he the email to the top court and told the bench that by non-Constitution bench matters he meant cases of ordinary people.

You seem not to know what Constitution bench matters. You are in ignorance of the importance of Constitution bench matters which often involve interpretation of the Constitution, which forms the foundation of the legal framework in India. You may think of Article 370 issue is not relevant. I don’t think this is what the government or the petitioners in that case feel. In the Article 370 matter, we heard groups of individuals and interveners who came and addressed us from the valley. So, we have been hearing the voice of the nation, CJI added.

The Supreme Court after hearing for 16 days reserved its verdict on September 5 on a batch of pleas challenging the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution.

The bench told lawyers that outcome of the recent Constitution bench matter will have an impact on the livelihood of numerous drivers across the country, where it asked the Centre if a change in the law that allows a person holding a driving licence for a light motor vehicle to legally drive a transport vehicle of a particular weight was warranted.

If you came and sat in our court the day before yesterday you would have found that we were dealing with a matter which concerned the livelihood of hundreds and thousands of drivers all across the country. The issue was whether a person who holds a licence to drive a light motor vehicle can drive a commercial vehicle,” the bench told Nedumpara.