Top Lawyer Harish Salve Exits Supreme Court Case: "Don't Want Sideshow"

Harish Salve said it is a "very sensitive" matter and he did not want the case to be decided under the shadow that he knew Chief Justice Bobde from school.

Senior lawyer Harish Salve today dropped out of the case that the Supreme Court took up yesterday involving the distribution of oxygen, vaccines and medicines across the country amid rising Covid cases. The Supreme Court allowed Mr Salve's request to opt out, berating some senior lawyers for imputing motive to his appointment as "amicus cureae" to assist the court. Mr Salve had referred to what he called criticism by some lawyers over his appointment. "I don't want the case to be decided under the shadow that I knew the Chief Justice," he said. The bench headed by outgoing Chief Justice SA Bobde - today is his last working day -- rapped some senior advocates for making statements without reading its order passed on Thursday. The case did not stop High Courts from hearing cases related to COVID-19 management in the country, said the Supreme Court. "You have imputed motives to us without reading our order," the court told Dushyant Dave, who was representing the Gujarat High Court Bar Association.