2nd midnight SC hearing after Yakub Memon case

NEW DELHI: The dramatic turn of events through Wednesday night over the Karnataka power tussle in the Supreme Court saw a mad scramble of news-hungry scribes during the rare post-midnight hearing which continued till the wee hours on Thursday.

As the speculations about possible court proceedings at night began around 10pm on Wednesday night, media persons started pouring in outside the apex court as well as the residence of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.

By midnight, a mad rush of scribes was witnessed at Gate E of the apex court which is one of the entry points of the complex that was opened.

A number of police personnel were present to prevent any untoward incident. Barricades were put up at strategic points and onlooker were shooed away by the police.

Scribes were seen trying to reach all their sources to get some information whether a night hearing would take place and, if yes, at what time.

As a number of reporters and photographers waited outside the CJI's residence, the news came from the apex court that the hearing would start at 1.45am.

As the news broke, the rush outside CJI's residence 5, Krishna Menon Marg, New Delhi, vanished within minutes, with the scribes, photographers and broadcast vans rushing to the top court.

At around 1.40am, only those scribes having entry cards issued by the Supreme Court were allowed to enter the courtroom number six, where the hearing took place later. Any lawyer going inside the apex court premises or coming out of it was instantly mobbed by the scribes wanting to know about the latest developments, even though a number of reporters were present in the court room.

The moment senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi arrived at the apex court gates, reporters rushed to get a news byte but the senior counsel, who was to appear for the Congress-JDS combine.

He refused to make any comment as he walked inside the complex, but soon thereafter he turned back, smiled and waved a victory sign for the benefit of the flashing cameras.

Soon thereafter, a battery of senior law officers, including Attorney General K K Venugopal, Additional Solicitor Generals Maninder Singh and Tushar Mehta and former AG and senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, also trooped into the court premises.

However, this wasn't the first time that the court had opened its doors to matters of jurisdiction post-midnight. In 2015, a few hours before Yakub Memon, an accused in the 1993 Mumbai blasts was to be hanged, his lawyers had approached the court around 2 am, in a final attempt to try and save him from the execution.

The Supreme Court registry had rushed to the residence of the then Chief Justice of India and a midnight hearing was conducted in court number 4.