Sibal cited the recent case of GN Saibaba as an example to buttress his argument.
“Only in rarest of cases sentences (after conviction) are suspended but I have never heard acquittal being suspended on a special Saturday hearing. The institution has to be concerned about itself and it is disturbing,” he said.
A Supreme Court bench of Justices MR Shah and Bela M Trivedi had sat on October 15, Saturday and suspended a Bombay High Court judgment which had acquitted GN Saibaba in an alleged Maoist links case.
The issue, Sibal said, is with how the Chief Justice of India (CJI) exercises his master of roster of powers to allocate cases.
“The issue is with master of roster. Most cases dealing with government go to a particular judge. That is not automatically assigned. So why is that happening,” he said.
Pertinently, he called for lawyers to start a movement to fight against executive excesses and said that lawyers should not hold back due to fear.
“I will be a part of this mobilisation. If you go to conquer Mount Everest you fear but still you go. It is the love of our country which will rid us of this fear. Ultimately toh sirf jail hi jana padega (At the most, you will have to go to jail),” Sibal said.
Source: Barandbench
