Multiple responses of Pinnacle Court’s high committee probe panels

The Top Court has stayed the proceedings of West Bengal’s former supreme court Justice Madan B. Lokur Commission of Inquiry into the Pegasus allegations. The reason for the stay is ostensibly because the supreme court is seized of the case and has itself formed an expert technical committee overseen by former apex court judge, Justice R.V. Raveendran, to examine allegations that the Centre used Israeli software, Pegasus, to spy on citizens. The Justice Raveendran Committee was formed by the court in October to ensure “absolute transparency and efficiency”. The court had asked the committee to submit its report “expeditiously” and posted the next hearing after eight weeks. The case may come up again post the Christmas vacations. But committees initiated by the Top court’s in the past in an earnest movement to uncover the facts or to broker peace have had multiple responses. Take the case of an 2020 October order of the court in the stubble-burning case. The court formed a single committee of Justice Lokur to save Delhi NCR from air pollution caused by stubble burning in the neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana. The court said Justice Lokur would be helped by student volunteer forces deployed from the National Cadet Corps, National Service Scheme and Bharat Scouts and Guides. But the order came to nothing and was put on hold by the court itself when the Centre promulgated the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance of 2020. In yet another case, the apex court had to reject a plea to disband its inquiry commission chaired by former Supreme Court judge, Justice B.S. Chauhan. This commission was tasked by the court to look into allegations of Uttar Pradesh Police’s encounter with history-sheeter Vikas Dubey. A Mumbai-based advocate Ghanshyam Upadhyay contested the court’s choice of the commission. Mr. Upadhyay had referred to articles published about relatives of Justice Chauhan being part of the ruling BJP in the State. But the court stood firm, not allowing a shadow of doubt to cross its choice of Justice Chauhan for the job. The past months have seen the Supreme Court’s Justice V.S. Sirpurkar Commission repeatedly seek extensions because of the pandemic to complete its probe into the deaths of four men, accused of the gang-rape and murder of a veterinarian, in an alleged encounter with the Hyderabad Police on December 6, 2019.