india

Updated: Apr 22, 2019 06:59 IST

The Supreme Court will this week hear a series of important cases — the National Registry of Citizens for Assam, a criminal defamation case against Congress president Rahul Gandhi, whether or not a film on Modi can be released during the elections, and if the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should be allowed to arrest former Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar — in the shadow of sexual harassment charges against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi.

On Saturday, in an urgent hearing by a three-judge bench led by him, CJI Gogoi defended himself in an 18-minute speech and said the allegations made by a former member of his staff were an attempt “to deactivate the office of the Chief Justice because I am hearing sensitive matters next week”.

A bench headed by CJI Gogoi will on Tuesday take up Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Meenakshi Lekhi’s petition seeking to initiate contempt proceedings against Gandhi for allegedly twisting a Supreme Court order on the admissibility of certain documents in the Rafale review petition. The court last week asked Gandhi to explain by Monday a public statement in which he appeared to say that the top court has made it clear in the Rafale case that “chowkidarji [watchman - an allusion to Prime Minister Narendra Modi] has committed a theft.”

CJI Gogoi’s bench will also decide the fate of a Modi biopic, whose release, the Opposition has said, will violate the model code of conduct laid down by the election commission (EC) in poll season. Last week, the film’s producers approached the top court challenging EC’s decision disallowing the release of the film. The Supreme Court directed EC to see the movie and give its recommendation in a sealed envelop.

The court will also take up an application filed by Central Bureau of Investigation seeking permission to arrest former Kolkata police chief Rajeev Kumar in connection with the Saradha c hit fund case. CBI has told the court that Kumar tampered with evidence and impeded investigation. The central agency’s investigation into the role of Kumar led to the face-off between the Union and Bengal governments in February.

Another important matter before the Supreme Court is a public interest litigation regarding the plight of those detained as illegal migrants in Assam.

The court last week directed the Assam government to submit a fresh affidavit enumerating the possible “ways and means” that can be adopted to release illegal immigrants held in detention centres for a long time.

It is not clear if the court will to do anything this week in the case — instituted on its own motion on Saturday — following the charges levelled against the country’s top judge.