The Supreme Court today scolded two lawyers—Vishal Tiwari and Shashank Shekhar Jha—for filing petitions about violence in West Bengal's Murshidabad during protests against the Waqf Amendment Act.

The judges said lawyers should act responsibly when bringing matters to the country’s top court.

A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh said the court is not a place for gaining publicity. “Don’t file petitions just to get in the news,” the judges warned. They added that the Supreme Court is a court of record, and anything said or filed there stays forever.

The court said it respects all lawyers, but when raising issues, they must do so respectfully and maintain the dignity of the institution. “Petitions under Article 32 should raise serious legal questions, not just make random claims,” the bench said.

(Article 32 allows people to directly approach the Supreme Court if their fundamental rights are violated.)

Advocate Tiwari asked to withdraw his petition and said he would file a better version later. The court allowed this.

Advocate Jha, however, first refused to make changes to his petition. This led the court to ask about his experience and whether he had learned how to draft PILs properly. He said he had been practicing for seven years and had filed a few PILs before. He also said many people from Bengal had contacted him, and some had migrated to other states. When asked for proof, he said he got the information from media reports.

The court was not happy with the language used in his petition and said it lacked decency. It also pointed out that he was making serious allegations against individuals without including them in the case.

When Jha finally agreed to change his petition, the court allowed him to withdraw it too. “Justice for the voiceless is important, but it must be done properly,” the court said.