Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Thursday vowed to undertake reforms within the Supreme Court Registry after discovering that a petition previously dismissed by a three-judge Bench was listed again before another Bench.
The Supreme Court Bench comprising CJI Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul Pancholi was hearing a plea challenging the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986 on grounds of repugnancy in light of Section 111 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
During proceedings, it emerged that a comparable challenge had earlier been dismissed under Article 32 by a three-judge Bench led by then CJI DY Chandrachud in Md. Anas Chaudhary v. State of Uttar Pradesh.
Taking strong exception to the re-listing, CJI Surya Kant announced that a deeper administrative probe would be conducted and warned Registry officials who “think they are permanent.”
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Though Senior Advocate Shoeb Alam sought to withdraw the plea, the CJI insisted that the matter remain on board to be taken to its logical conclusion.
Justice Bagchi also raised substantive queries on whether the repugnancy argument would withstand scrutiny under the General Clauses Act, especially in the context of special state laws on organised crime.
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