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| The Supreme Court getting fully functional at late night was a first. |
Staff correspondent, July 31, 2015, NewsCrunch
On Wednesday night, the Supreme Court assembled at well past mid-night to hear Yakub Memon's petition - the first time it had done so in its entire history.
Judges do hear late night petitions at their home; but the Supreme Court getting fully functional at the odd hour was a first.
The Telegraph legal correspondent R Balaji explains how the events unfolded:
He came to know that Yakub Memon's lawyers were making a last-ditch effort to save him after 10 pm.
The defence lawyers went to the Supreme Court and filed the petition with the night duty officer, who informed CJI Dattu and sent him the papers.
The media gathered in front of Dattu's residence, about 4 kms away from the court, and waited till 1.30 am when Dattu decided that the three member bench headed by Justice Deepak Mishra would hear it.
There was some confusion among the media on where the hearing would be held and many shuttled between Dattu's and Mishra's residences.
Learning that the Supreme Court would open at night, they rushed there to see the building illuminated and the security personnel in their position.
The three judges arrived at 3 am and the hearing commenced at 3.20 am. For an hour, till 4.20 am, the defense lawyers and the Attorney General Mukul Rastogi argued.
Justice Deepak Mishra took 35 minutes to dictate his order, sealing Yakub Memon's fate.