Why Harish Salve wasn’t allowed to join hearing in PILs against farmers’ blockade

NEW DELHI: Senior advocate Harish Salve on Wednesday could not join proceedings as the Supreme Court began hearing petitions against the farmers who have blocked various Delhi borders.

Despite repeated requests, the senior advocate was not allowed to join the hearing, through video conferencing, as the court master of the bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde said that no advocate-on-record has engaged Salve in these petitions.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, informed the Chief Justice that Salve had sent him texts to make a request on his behalf to allow him to join the proceedings. But, the court master informed the Chief Justice that there is no intimation about his appearance in the matter, and he has no case today (Wednesday) in the court of the Chief Justice.

The Chief Justice said: “We will allow him if Salve has a case. There is no case of Salve before us.”

The top court did not allow Salve to join the proceedings.

Mehta insisted that Salve wants to put across some important legal points in the matter.

Mehta made another intervention, stating that Salve has sent another text. The Chief Justice told Mehta, please don’t interrupt now. “It isn’t that we don’t want to hear Salve but he doesn’t have any case before us. And if we entertain something like this, we get long representations from other lawyers,” said the CJI.

However, at the end of the hearing, CJI Bobde told Mehta to inform Salve to appear before the court on Thursday to participate in the proceedings.

The apex court was hearing PILs seeking removal of farmers blocking the roads at various Delhi borders. The top court has asked the petitioners to join farmers unions, like the Bhartiya Kisan Union and other prominent unions, as parties and posted the matter for further hearing on Thursday.

With IANS inputs