On Monday, Chief Justice of India SA Bobde said that the "rioting" must stop and there should be peace. CJI said this after senior advocate Indira Jaising mentioned Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University incidents before a bench headed by CJI SA Bobde.
Jaising had asked Supreme Court to take suo motu cognizance of the issue saying 'It's a very serious human rights violation all over the country.' In response, CJI Bobde, however, says that the courts "can't do much" in the case and police have to deal with it. "Just because they happen to be students it doesn't mean they can take law and order in their own hands," he says relegating the blame of yesterday's violence to the students.
Chief Justice of India SA Bobde also said, 'we will determine the rights but not in the atmosphere of riots, let all of this stop and then we will take suo motu cognizance. We are not against rights and peaceful demonstrations.'
Chief Justice S.A. Bobde said the Supreme Court would not be bullied, and cannot be held to ransom while public properties are destroyed. The court observed that just being students, they can't take the law into their own hands, adding the it would hear the matter on Tuesday if no violent protests take place.
A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde on Monday also took serious note of the rioting and destruction of public property during protests against the Act and said this must stop immediately. "The only thing we want is that the violence must stop," the bench said, adding, "if protests and violence and damage of public property will be there, we will not hear the matter". The bench also comprising justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant asked the lawyers to file their petitions and said it would hear them tomorrow.
The Supreme Court on Monday said it will hold a hearing on the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, held in Delhi's Jamia Millia Islamia University and Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh Muslim University on Tuesday.
