SC to hear contempt plea over Delhi Metro curbs during Cockroach Janta protest

The Supreme Court will hear a contempt plea over alleged violations of its transport order during the Delhi protest. The petition says metro and train curbs defied the court's direction against a complete shutdown.

In Short

• A Sunday hearing is listed before Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana
• Advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi sought contempt action through counsel Chand Qureshi
• Officials named include Union, police and Delhi Metro authorities as respondents

The Supreme Court is set to hear on Sunday a plea seeking contempt proceedings against authorities for allegedly violating its direction that there should be no "complete prohibition" on metro and train services because of the Cockroach Janta Party's protest in Delhi.

According to the cause list for October 11 uploaded on the apex court's website, the matter will be heard by a bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana. The plea concerns restrictions imposed on public transport despite the court's earlier order on the issue.

The petition has been filed by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi and names Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation chairperson D Thara as respondents. Filed through advocate Chand Qureshi, the plea said, "This brutal assault on the fundamental rights of the citizens and sheer disregard to the orders of this court amounts to deliberate, intentional attempt on the part of Delhi Metro, Delhi Police and the Union government which must be dealt with an iron hand."

The plea referred to the Supreme Court's October 9 order in a separate petition that challenged the closure of 57 metro stations and the cancellation of trains to Delhi in view of the protest. The protest call had been given by the Cockroach Janta Party and some student organisations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission.

While hearing the separate petition on Friday, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Bagchi and Mohana directed the Centre to ensure that there was no "complete prohibition" on the movement of metro services and trains coming to Delhi on October 10 because of the protest. The court had said that while law enforcement agencies have the right to take steps to restrict unruly movement, citizens should not be unduly harassed and everything cannot be brought to a halt.

The case will now come up on Sunday before the two-judge bench, with the plea alleging that the court's earlier direction on keeping metro and train services running was not followed.

- Ends