Senior counsel Gopal Sankaranarayanan withdraws from Delhi protest cases before Supreme Court

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan has withdrawn from seven matters concerning the Delhi protests before the Supreme Court following repeated interruptions and the alleged snatching of his microphone during Thursday's hearing.

A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi on Thursday heard around 46 petitions concerning alleged police brutality, unlawful detentions, restrictions on public movement, journalists' rights and the denotification of Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site.

When Bar & Bench reached out to Sankaranarayanan to confirm his decision to withdraw from the cases, the senior counsel said,

"The bench failed to control the court. I cannot continue like this. Dignity of the court is more important."

Sankaranarayanan expressed concern over the lack of order during the hearing, particularly the manner in which matters were taken up without following their serial numbers.

He added that preserving the dignity and decorum of the Court was more important than continuing his appearances in the cases.

Sources told the Bar & Bench that Sankaranarayanan, who was briefed in the seven matters, has communicated to his clients that he would no longer appear in the proceedings.

The sources added that Sankaranarayanan had attended the hearing fully prepared with his notes and briefs. However, he was repeatedly interrupted by other counsel while attempting to address the bench. As a result, he was unable to complete his submissions.

Towards the end of the proceedings, when he sought to make further submissions, a senior woman lawyer appearing on the same side allegedly snatched the microphone from him.

Sankaranarayanan subsequently walked out of the courtroom before the proceedings concluded.

His withdrawal from the matter assumes significance given his involvement in multiple petitions raising questions about Delhi Police action, detentions and restrictions on the right to protest.

The Court on Thursday issued notices to Central government and Delhi Police in several petitions and directed law enforcement agencies to preserve CCTV footage and other digital evidence.

The bench also appointed nodal counsel for both sides and directed them to segregate the overlapping petitions into broad categories by October 28, enabling separate counter-affidavits.

The main protest-related batch is listed for hearing on November 3.