NEW DELHI: Supreme Court under the leadership of CJI Surya Kant maintained its stand for equitable distribution of judicial time for litigants irrespective of their status, and said on Tuesday that the rich and influential could not bypass tiers of judiciary to move the SC directly.When an accused sought hearing of his petition challenging validity of a provision of PMLA, the bench said, “You have started a unique kind of litigation. Because you are rich and influential, you can move SC directly at every stage of trial.”“Rich and influential will not be allowed to bypass the tiers of justice delivery system and seek direct audience in SC. They must face trial like ordinary citizens,” the bench said, refusing to entertain the plea.CJI Kant said there are many pleas pending which have challenged validity of PMLA, and time permitting, these would be heard together by the end of this month.When advocate Sidharth Luthra said the petition challenging a provision of PMLA, Sec 44(1) (c), could be tagged with pending pleas, the bench said Luthra can join proceedings but for that a separate plea need not be entertained.
