A letter to the CJI stresses that some of these matters, pending for as long as two years, affect several people's lives and livelihoods acutely.
New Delhi: Over 200 eminent citizens, including professors, civil servants, journalists and prominent activists have written an open letter to the Chief Justice of India, attempting to draw his attention to the pending status of key matters in Supreme Court, covering issues from the Citizenship Amendment Act to electoral bonds.
The signatories to the letter note that among the 421 Constitutional Bench cases pending before various benches, there are 49 main matters and 372 connected matters as on October 2021.
The matters listed in the letter as deserving of the court’s immediate attention include the reading down of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir without due parliamentary process, the continuing misuse of UAPA, which is already under challenge, the Citizenship Amendment Act, the farm laws for which the SC appointed expert committee’s report was submitted in March, 2021, but the case is yet to be heard, the sedition law, matters related to personal privacy in the Pegasus and Aadhaar cases, electoral bonds and transparency in election financing, and the Rafale fighter aircraft deal.
Highlighting that the urgent matters affect citizen’s fundamental rights and are also matters of national importance, the letter notes that the recent appointment of nine judges to the Supreme Court, bringing the judge strength up to 31, has raised public expectation of adjudication on long-pending cases.
The letter stresses that some of these matters, pending for as long as two years, affect several people’s lives and livelihoods acutely.
“Early disposal of these Constitution cases will restore the faith that we as citizens repose in the judiciary and the Supreme Court,” the writers observe.
Below are the signatories:
................................