“This is not a platform for people to come and express what they want”, CJI Gogoi

The much-anticipated hearing in Supreme Court today in the CBI case witnessed a dramatic hearing and strong rebuke by CJI Ranjan Gogoi who came down on various lawyers appearing in the matter..“This is not a platform for anybody to come and express what they want. This is a platform for adjudication of legal rights”, were Gogoi J’s final words in the second leg of the hearing today..The Bench had earlier adjourned the matter “for reasons it was not inclined to record”, after a visibly miffed CJI Gogoi took exception to the report in The Wire. The publication has since clarified that their stories were based on Verma’s responses to the questions posed by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), and not on the replies submitted to the Supreme Court, which were supposed to be in a sealed cover..Subsequently, the matter was taken up at the end of the board, when Senior Counsel Fali Nariman clarified that the report by The Wire is based on the responses by Alok Verma to the CVC, and that it was published before the order of Supreme Court directing confidentiality..“We have not given this to you as a counsel for Alok Verma”, replied Gogoi J..Meanwhile, advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan sought to clarify the issue of the mentioning made by him yesterday in the background of Nariman’ s statements that the former’s mentioning was not authorised by him. But CJI Gogoi refused to give him audience..“No we wont hear you”, said Gogoi J..“I want to clear my name because it has been said that it was not authorised”, responded Sankaranarayanan..“As far as this Court is concerned, nobody is under any cloud that they should seek clearance from us”, retorted Gogoi J..Alok Verma’s AoR also sought to clarify that the mentioning by Sankaranarayanan was authorised by her client, but Gogoi J refused to hear her as well..Gogoi J. stated that he had turned down a mentioning yesterday..“Yesterday we had refused the mentioning and had expressed that highest degree of confidentiality be maintained. But this litigant shares it with everyone. Our respect for this institution is not shared by anyone due to some strange reason.”.[Editor’s note: It is not clear whether this statement was made in the context of the mentioning made yesterday by Manish Sinha’s lawyer, or by Alok Verma’s lawyer.].Gogoi J. made it clear that he would not hear the matter today, while also stating,.“We are unable to help you due to the inefficiency of the counsel. We expect the highest level of efficiency in court 1.”.As a parting remark, he added,.“We want to know what is going on. This is not a platform for people to come and express what they want. We will set it right”..The matter will now be taken up on November 29..Read the order below.