SC didn’t comment on merits of plea against ‘misuse’ of central agencies: Abhishek Singhvi

Senior party leader and noted lawyer Abhishek Singhvi, who appeared for the parties, said the fact that the court allowed the parties to withdraw their plea “at this stage” ensured that the door was open for them to approach the court again.

“The court heard us with great patience. They ultimately did not entertain it but did not express a single opinion on the merits. They allowed the matter to be withdrawn. They recorded that at this stage… which means that full liberty is there for us to come again on new facets and new grounds,” he said.

He said the “building blocks were felt to be too broad by the court at this stage”.

“They involved an allegation of non-level, uneven playing field because 95 per cent of all cases involve Opposition leaders as far as the political sphere is concerned. That, according to us, skews democracy, makes democracy one-sided and lopsided. And that, in turn, negatively affects the basic structure. Therefore, we asked for two sets of guidelines. One—before arrest, why should there be an arrest at all, only if the person is at flight risk or interfering with evidence etc etc—the triple test. Alternatively, if arrested, the criteria and guidelines for bail. The court felt that in individual cases we are here to save, to protect you, to deal with you, but in a mega and macro sense, we are not entertaining this at this stage and allowed it to be withdrawn,” he said.

Meanwhile Union minister Anurag Thakur hit out at Opposition parties over their allegation of misuse of central investigative agencies, saying those indulging in corruption had tried to join hands but their reality was exposed in the court.

“All corrupt people tried to come on one platform. They have been exposed and now the reality has come out in court,” the information and broadcasting minister told reporters.

Accepting the Supreme Court’s decision, TMC leader Derek O’Brien said, “We bow to the majesty of the Supreme Court. Exploring a judicial coalition on this issue was an option. That does not mean other issues cannot be found to form a legal coalition.”

AIMIM chief and Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi termed the Opposition’s move a “wrong method”. “The opposition parties should not have approached the Supreme Court. Politics is not done like this. You gave the BJP a handle to say that what they were doing was right and that the Supreme Court has rejected the opposition plea. You cannot do politics like this against the BJP, especially when Narendra Modi is leading it. The decision was on expected lines. You should have done something which would have given some concrete results… now the BJP will go on saying that the Supreme Court ruled in its favour,” he said.

– With PTI inputs