Congress leader Tehseen Poonawalla, who had filed the petition, said that just before his plea was to be heard on Friday morning in the court of Justices Arun Mishra and M M Shantanagoudar, the senior advocate had pressurised him to withdraw the petition.



He, however, refused to divulge the name of the senior lawyer.

"I have full faith in the judiciary. I have nothing to do with the politics surrounding the case. I was called names but I refused to back off. I requested my advocate on record to argue the matter despite the pressure," Poonawalla said.

He said that he had told the senior advocate that he would not withdraw the petition as he had full belief in the institution.