Chief Justice of India SA Bobde stirred up a controversy last week when he made an oral observation while hearing Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan’s habeas corpus plea, that the Supreme Court was “trying to discourage Article 32 petitions”.
The CJI suggested that the request by the Kerala Union of Working Journalists should have gone to the relevant high court instead of the apex court, a suggestion he made again that day in the Sameet Thakkar case.
He even repeated the comments the next day during another writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, saying, “We are trying to cut down the Article 32 jurisdiction, we do not appreciate this.”
Interestingly, just a few weeks earlier, CJI Bobde had issued a contempt notice to the Assistant Secretary of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for a notice sent by him to Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami, and during the hearing had said that the right of a citizen to approach the apex court is a fundamental right under Article 32 of the Constitution.
“There is no doubt that if a citizen of India is deterred in any way from moving the court in exercise of his right under Article 32, it would amount to a serious interference in the administration of justice in the country,” the CJI was reported to have said.