New Delhi : Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Thursday assured the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) that he would intervene if the Supreme Court Metro station was not reopened by lunchtime, after lawyers complained that the closure of several Delhi Metro stations due to ongoing student protests had severely disrupted access to the apex court.
“If nothing is done by lunchtime to reopen them, and if the DMRC has not taken any action by then, we will look into the matter,” the Chief Justice said, assuring the Bar that the court would step in if necessary. CJI Surya Kant also clarified that no litigant or lawyer would suffer adverse judicial consequences merely because they were unable to reach the court due to the Metro shutdown. The Chief Justice informed the court that the Supreme Court administration had already been directed to engage with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to explore a practical solution.
During the hearing, SCBA President Vikas Singh proposed a restricted-access arrangement, suggesting that only lawyers, litigants and Registry staff carrying valid Supreme Court proximity cards or official identification be allowed to exit at the Supreme Court Metro station after security screening. He argued that passengers could be screened at the station exit, with only authorised individuals permitted to disembark while others continued their journey to the next station.
The development comes less than a day after the Chief Justice declined an urgent hearing on a plea seeking the Supreme Court’s intervention over the alleged police crackdown on student protesters at Jantar Mantar. On Wednesday, when a lawyer urged the court to take suo motu cognisance of the incident, the Chief Justice refused to entertain the matter urgently. “We are not interested in videos; we don’t have time to watch them,” the CJI remarked after the lawyer referred to video clips allegedly showing police excesses during the protests.
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