India News | Oppn Can Go for 'legal Coalition' on Other Issues, Suggests TMC
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Wednesday indicated that the opposition parties could go for a "legal coalition" on other issues.
New Delhi, Apr 5 (PTI) The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Wednesday indicated that the opposition parties could go for a "legal coalition" on other issues.
The party was reacting after the Supreme Court refused to entertain a plea by 14 parties, including the TMC, which alleged arbitrary use of central probe agencies against opposition leaders.
Also Read | PM Narendra Modi To Visit Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka on April 8, 9.
"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,” said TMC MP Derek O'Brien.
The plea alleged there has been an alarming rise in the use of coercive criminal processes against opposition political leaders and other citizens exercising their fundamental right to dissent.
The apex court observed that laying down guidelines without facts of a criminal case will be a “very dangerous” proposition.
“The difficulty in your petition is that you are trying to extrapolate the statistics into binding legal guidelines which effectively would apply. You are aware of the fact these statistics pertain only to politicians. At the same time, you are aware of the fact that the guidelines cannot apply only to politicians. Politicians do not have higher immunity,” the bench said.
Sensing the apex court's disinclination, senior advocate A M Sighvi, appearing for the political parties, sought permission to withdraw the petition which was granted.
The bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice J B Pardiwala said it is always willing to take up “a single case or a group of cases” where a political leader has been targeted to silence the voice.
“Come to us with one or more cases together we will certainly deal with this,” the bench said.
Besides the TMC, the parties to the petition included the Congress, DMK, RJD, BRS, AAP, NCP, Shiv Sena (UBT), JMM, JD(U), CPI(M), CPI, Samajwadi Party and the J-K National Conference.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)