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Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan has withdrawn from seven Delhi protest cases pending before the Supreme Court. He said he did this because of concerns about courtroom decorum. The decision came after he was interrupted repeatedly during the hearing on October 15, 2026.
It also followed an alleged incident in which a senior woman lawyer on the same side took the microphone from him. Sankaranarayanan then told his clients that he would no longer appear in these cases.
Background of the Cases:
The Supreme Court was hearing around 46 petitions about the protests held in Delhi against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The petitions raised several issues. These were alleged police excesses, unlawful detentions, limits on public movement, the rights of journalists, and the removal of Jantar Mantar from the list of approved protest sites.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi heard the matters on October 15. Sankaranarayanan was appearing in seven of these cases. One of them was a petition challenging the removal of Jantar Mantar as an approved protest site.
Repeated Interruptions During the Hearing:
It is reported that Sr.Advocate Sankaranarayanan came to court ready, with his notes and case briefs, to present his arguments. But other lawyers kept interrupting him while he spoke to the Bench, and he reportedly could not finish his arguments.
Things allegedly got worse near the end of the hearing, when Sankaranarayanan tried to make more submissions. A senior woman lawyer on the same side reportedly took the microphone from him. After this, Sankaranarayanan left the courtroom before the hearing ended.
The repeated interruptions and the way the hearing was run reportedly played a part in his decision to withdraw. He was also unhappy with how the cases were taken up, especially the reported move away from their serial order.
Sankaranarayanan Explains His Decision:
Sankaranarayanan is said to have expressed unhappiness with how the hearing was conducted. He said: “The bench failed to control the court. I cannot continue like this. Dignity of the court is more important.”
According to him, the dignity and decorum of the Court mattered more than continuing to appear in the cases.
He also said that he “didn’t want to have infighting on the same team.” This remark points to the disagreement among lawyers on the same side during the hearing.
Court’s Order
The Bench has sent notices to the Central Government and Delhi Police in several of the matters. It has also ordered that CCTV footage and other digital evidence about the protests be kept safe. The Court also told the parties to sort the petitions that overlap into broad groups by October 28, 2026, so that separate replies can be filed.
The matter is set to be heard next on November 3, 2026.
