Supreme Court imposes Rs 25k cost on petitioner alleging mistrial in Gandhi assassination case

The bench said, 'The parties cannot walk into the Supreme Court with any pleading or with any prayer they want'

The Supreme Court has imposed Rs 25,000 as cost on 'Abhinav Bharat Congress', which alleged mistrial in the Mahatma Gandhi assassination case in 1948, finding the plea as the "most misconceived".

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Ahsanuddin Amanullah said, "It is the most misconceived petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India. The parties cannot walk into the Supreme Court with any pleading or with any prayer they want."

The bench said, "Since it is a party in person, we are still showing some concession and dismiss the writ petition only with a cost of Rs.25,000 to be deposited with the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Welfare Fund within four weeks."

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The petitioner organisation led by its founding president Dr Pankaj K Phadnis asked the court to hold that the Bombay Public Measures (Delhi Amendment) Act, Act 52 of 1948 is ultra vires of Constitution of India and its application in 'REX vs Nathuram Godse' resulted in a mistrial.

Consequently, the plea stated, in partial atonement of injustice done to Veer Savarkar, the Union government may be directed to form an empowered committee of eminent persons including representative of Abhinav Bharat for giving Overseas Scholarship to meritorious students for undertaking post graduate studies as envisaged by Veer Savarkar in 1944.

The petitioner also sought a direction to the Union government to issue a public apology to the younger brother of Mrs Manorama Salvi Apte, Dr Balchandra Daulatrao Salvi for "being responsible for custodial murder of his brother in law-Mr Apte".