India News | SCBA Writes to CJI Seeking Permission to Use SC Auditorium Without Restrictions

New Delhi, May 7 (PTI) The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on Saturday wrote to Chief Justice of India N V Ramana seeking permission to use the apex court auditorium without restrictions for the farewell of Justice Vineet Saran on May 10.

The SCBA claimed in a letter to the CJI that its members are being treated as “complete strangers” to the Supreme Court, whereas the Registry staff, including Class III and Class IV staff, are treated as owners of the institution.

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“We are extremely pained to see the conditions imposed in the letter (granting permission to use the auditorium),” the SCBA said.

It said while according to DDMA guidelines there was no restriction of seating in an auditorium or cinema hall and 100 per cent seating capacity was permitted, “it is not understood as to why the Bar is being restricted to utilise only 50 per cent seats especially when a very popular judge is retiring and we expect the auditorium to be full.”

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"We reject the SOP issued today and we shall hold the farewell in the Supreme Court lawns till such time we are not given the auditorium with the due respect that the Bar deserves," the letter said.

The letter also raised the issues of parking and chambers for the SCBA members.

It said the chambers which are ready for use for more than three years are lying unused and unallotted on some pretext or the other.

(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)