Supreme Court expresses resentment against Registry for not listing matter, despite directions

The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed strong resentment against the Registry, stating that it did not list a matter, despite being given a direction to that effect.

The Vacation Bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and J.B. Pardiwala had directed its Registry on Monday to list the matter related to the security cover provided to Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and his family for today, after Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned urgent hearing in the case.

The Central government had filed an appeal against the Tripura High Court’s decision to entertain a PIL challenging the security cover provided to Ambanis by the Maharashtra government.

The Vacation Bench had yesterday told Singhvi that the cases seeking urgent listing during vacation were to be mentioned before the Registry.

Justice Surya Kant on Tuesday said that on Monday, an exception was made by the bench by directing the listing of a matter and despite that, the Registry did not list the case.

Appearing for the Government of India, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had yesterday said that security provided to the Ambanis could not be termed as an issue of public interest, so it cannot be the basis of a PIL.

Besides, the matter did not come under the jurisdiction of Tripura High Court, since the state of Tripura had no links whatsoever with the case, the SG contended.

He had further opposed the summoning of Union Home Ministry officials by the High Court.

The Tripura High Court has summoned the officials of the Union Home Ministry on Tuesday, along with the documents related to threat perception.

Maharashtra government had provided security to Ambani and his family, based on an evaluation of threat perception by the Centre.