New Delhi, August 28
On his first day as the Chief Justice of India on Monday, Justice UU Lalit will hear bail plea of Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan arrested by the UP Police and Bhima Koregaon case accused Gautam Navlakha’s petition seeking to be transferred from prison to house arrest.
The new CJI’s first working day also marks the beginning of hearing of several long-pending Constitution Bench matters national importance. 25 of the 500 Constitution Bench cases pending in the top court have been ordered to be listed from August 29.
Listing out his priorities as the CJI and ‘master of roster’, Justice Lalit had on Friday announced that he would strive to have one Constitution Bench functioning throughout the year; streamline the system of urgent mentioning and bring transparency to the system.
According to a notice issued by the top court on Thursday, these five-judge Constitution Benches matters will be listed for directions, including filing of common compilation, short written submissions and tentative indication as to time to be taken by lawyers for making their submissions and thereafter, the cases would be listed as per directions of the court.
Kappan has moved the Supreme Court challenging an Allahabad High Court order rejecting his bail plea in connection with a case registered against him by the Uttar Pradesh Police under the UAPA.
He was arrested on October 5, 2020 while on his way to Hathras to cover a gang-rape of a Dalit woman. The UP Police alleged that Kappan was a PFI activist who attempted to create communal tension in Hathras and the newspaper he claimed to represent had already shut down two years ago. PFI had been accused of funding protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act across India.
Navlakha has challenged the Bombay High Court’s order dismissing his plea to be transferred from Taloja Prison and placed under house arrest. Arrested in August 2018 under the UAPA, he was initially placed under house arrest.
