In what appeared to be a reference to the recent uproar over the Supreme Court ’s directive to the President concerning timely assent to bills and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar’s strong criticism of the court’s stance on the matter last week, Justice B R Gavai of the Supreme Court remarked, “You want us to issue mandamus directing Union..? As it is, we are alleged of intruding on Parliamentary and Executive function’’.

The court’s observations came in response to a petition before the Supreme Court’s bench of Justices B R Gavai and A G Masih requesting the Central Government to act under Article 355 of the Constitution in the State of West Bengal.

The plea urged the Union Government to intervene under Article 355 in response to "external aggression and internal disturbance" following recent violence in Murshidabad during protests against the Waqf Amendment Act.

The Advocate who filed the petition requested permission to submit an application in his plea, which is scheduled for hearing tomorrow, emphasizing the necessity of deploying central forces in the State and seeking to add further facts to the record.

The Court’s noting on the petition appeared to allude to the recent controversy regarding its directive to the President concerning timely assent to bills which soon snowballed into an storm. The Vice President too had vent his ire on the court’s stance on the matter.

Granting liberty to file the application, Justice Gavai remarked that the Court was already being accused of overstepping into legislative and executive territories.