BackPatiala House Court: The new ground zero for Indian politics
With two high profile cases in the last one week, this court has become the centre of the ongoing political conflicts between BJP, Congress and AAP
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New Delhi: Patiala House Court is the new ground zero for Indian politics this winter with two high profile cases in the last one week. On Saturday, the Gandhis appeared before the court to attend a summon in the National Herald case and on Monday finance minister Arun Jaitley filed a civil defamation case against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, making this district court of Delhi the centre of the ongoing political conflicts between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The Patiala House Court, earlier a palace, has long been the place where Goliaths have been brought down. Located between the Supreme Court and the India Gate, this establishment houses, among many more, the two Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) courts which are hearing cases on 2G spectrum and coal block allocations. It is the same court which summoned a former prime minister Manmohan Singh in relation to a corruption allegation (albeit stayed by the Supreme Court pending an appeal).
The Patiala House Court Complex is spread across an area of more than 30,000 square metres and houses 32 courts, a family court and Delhi Legal Services Authorities Office.
Courts, of course, are often a source of drama, not to mention grandstanding. However, in the last 72 hours, the Patiala House Court has twice served as a veritable battleground for reigning political forces.
On Saturday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi appeared in the National Herald case and secured a bail. The brief appearance in court—less than five minutes—was however preceded by more than an hour of political activity as scores of Congress leaders, including its top brass comprising former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Motilal Vohra, A.K. Antony, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka Vadra arrived at the court premises in a show of support for the two leaders.
On Monday, too, the ruling party displayed a similar show of strength when Jaitley was accompanied by senior BJP leaders and Union ministers M. Venkaiah Naidu, J.P. Nadda, Smriti Irani, Dharmendra Pradhan, Piyush Goyal and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. Jaitley filed a criminal defamation complaint on Monday against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and five other AAP leaders for allegedly defaming him in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) controversy.
The court has also witnessed a protest seeking a change in the juvenile justice law after a juvenile convicted in the 2012 gang rape case was released after he served out his maximum sentence under the law.
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