Supreme Court Declines PIL Challenging Parliament Inauguration By PM Narendra Modi Instead Of President

The Supreme Court today refused to entertain a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a direction that the inauguration of the new Parliament building should be done by the president and not the prime minister.

The petition, filed by Supreme Court lawyer CR Jaya Sukin, reads that by not including President Murmu in the inauguration of the new parliament building, the Central government 'violated the Constitution of India'.

#BREAKING Supreme Court refuses to entertain PIL seeking a direction that the #NewParliamentBuilding should be inaugurated by President and not the Prime Minister.

The petitioner has withdrawn the petition.#ParliamentBuilding #SupremeCourtofIndia https://t.co/SNmeu3I6fR
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) May 26, 2023

According to a report by LiveLaw, the petitioner referred to Article 79 of the Constitution of India, which says that the Parliament comprises President and the two houses. A bench of Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice PS Narasimha heard the petition.

Justice Maheshwari in response asked how Article 79 is related to the inauguration.

The petitioner also cited Article 87, which says that the Parliament session commences with the Special Address by the President. The bench wondered how this provision is related to inauguration of the new building.

The petitioner then decided to withdraw the matter, according to the LiveLaw report.

The petition by an apex court lawyer was filed amid a controversy over the scheduled inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28. Twenty Opposition parties have decided to boycott the ceremony to protest the "sidelining" of the president.

In a joint statement on Wednesday, 19 political parties said, "When the soul of democracy has been sucked out of Parliament, we find no value in a new building." The BJP-led NDA shot back, condemning the "contemptuous" decision.

"This act is not merely disrespectful; it is a blatant affront to the democratic ethos and constitutional values of our great nation," parties belonging to the ruling NDA said in a statement on Wednesday.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had recently met the prime minister and invited him to inaugurate the new building. Modi had also laid the foundation stone for the building in 2020 and most opposition parties had stayed away from the event even then.

(With inputs from PTI)