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The Supreme Court questioned if asking the Union government to use emergency powers in West Bengal would mean the court is interfering in the powers of the Executive and Legislature.
This came during a plea to invoke Article 355 due to communal violence and deaths during protests over the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.
Article 355 makes it the Union’s duty to protect states from internal disturbance and ensure constitutional governance.
Justice B.R. Gavai referred to recent criticism of the court over its judgment in the Tamil Nadu Governor case.
That judgment had set deadlines for Governors and the President to act on Bills, which Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar criticized as judicial overreach.
Justice Gavai asked whether directing the Centre to send paramilitary forces would be seen as interference in government functioning.
In a separate issue, the court told a lawyer to get the Attorney-General’s consent before filing a contempt case against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey for comments against the court and CJI Sanjiv Khanna.
Another Bench led by Justice Surya Kant allowed petitioner Shashant Shekhar Jha to withdraw his plea for a Special Investigation Team in West Bengal violence, asking him to file a proper, verified petition.
The court noted that those accused in Jha’s petition were not made parties and could not defend themselves.
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