Supreme Court: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the law "will take its own course".
Petitions on the violence that took place during the tractor rally held by protesting farmers on Republic Day will not be heard now, the Supreme Court said today, pointing out that police investigations into the matter are on. The petitioners had asked for a judicial probe into the violence that broke out in various parts of the city as farmers at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur border broke barricades ahead of time and veered from the designated course.
Asking the petitioners to withdraw the pleas, Chief Justice of India SA Bobde -- who was leading the three-judge bench -- said, "We read the Prime Minister's statement where he said law will take its own course and the government is looking into it. We do not want to interfere".
Last week, responding to opposition demands for a special probe into the incidents at the Red Fort, the Prime Minister stressed that the law "will take its own course".
On Sunday, in his first radio address of the year Mann ki Baat, PM Modi had said, "India was saddened by insult to Tricolour on Republic Day."
Chaos was unleashed across the city on Republic Day as the farmers deviated from the designated route and many made their way towards the iconic Red Fort in the Old City. Violence broke out as the police tried to stop them.
A group still made its way to the Red Fort, in what they said was a message to the Central government and hoisted a Sikh religious flag below the ramparts. The police had to use batons to push them out of the complex.
The petitioners filed since had asked the court to order registration of First Information Reports against persons and organisations responsible for the violence and the dishonour to the National flag at the Red Fort.
The clash between the police and the farmers on the Republic Day had caught global attention bringing shame to the nation, the petitions contended.