New Delhi: Senior advocate Harish Salve sought the Supreme Court’s permission Friday to withdraw as amicus curiae from the suo motu case to distribution of essential supplies and services, including oxygen and drugs, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Harish Salve before a bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde said it is a ‘very sensitive’ matter. He said he did not want the case to be decided under the shadow, where statements were made that he knew the Chief Justice from either school or college days. Justice Bobde is demitting the Chief Justice of India office Friday.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta requested Salve not to withdraw from the case as the amicus. Mehta asserted that nobody should succumb to such pressure tactics. Reportedly, several counsel had written criticising the apex court’s decision to appoint Salve as amicus curiae in the matter.
The Chief Justice told Salve it was a collective decision of the bench to appoint him amicus curie. He said there is nothing more to understand. Salve, who appeared Thursday for Vedanta before the top court, submitted, “I did not know our Bar is divided among industries we appear for. Please allow me to recuse with all humility.”
The bench accepted Salve’s request for withdrawal as amicus from the matter. However, it said that it did not like reading what some senior advocates had to say, but ‘everyone is entitled to their own opinion’. “In future, we will have to look for someone as amicus who we don’t know,” added the bench.
The bench added it understands that Salve was pained. Mehta submitted, “We are not in a position in the country to have a maligning competition in media and electronic media. Someday somebody from the judiciary has to take cognisance of this trend. Salve should reconsider. It is a question of principle.”
While appearing Thursday for Vedanta, Salve had submitted the company could produce oxygen at its Sterlite plant in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu to make up for the shortage amid COVID-19 crisis.