Curated By: Poulami Kundu
News18.com
Last Updated: March 28, 2024, 23:05 IST
New Delhi, India
Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Image: PTI)
Bullying and browbeating others is “vintage Congress culture”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday while responding to a letter to India’s Chief Justice by hundreds of lawyers, who flagged what they described as a threat from actions of a “specific interest group aiming to undermine the judiciary’s integrity”.
The Prime Minister took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, “To browbeat and bully others is vintage Congress culture. 5 decades ago itself they had called for a “committed judiciary” – they shamelessly want commitment from others for their selfish interests but desist from any commitment towards the nation. No wonder 140 crore Indians are rejecting them.”
To browbeat and bully others is vintage Congress culture.5 decades ago itself they had called for a “committed judiciary” – they shamelessly want commitment from others for their selfish interests but desist from any commitment towards the nation.
No wonder 140 crore Indians… https://t.co/dgLjuYONHH
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 28, 2024
PM Modi was referring to the time when Congress’ Indira Gandhi, in the 1970s, advocated a “committed judiciary”. The Congress government had then superseded three judges to make a CJI and repeated the same a couple of years later, attracting a lot of resistance from the legal community.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took to X in response to PM Modi’s post, calling it “the height of hypocrisy”. He said “140 crore Indians are waiting to give him a befitting reply very soon”, a reference to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from April to June.
The PM’s brazenness in orchestrating and coordinating an attack on the judiciary, in the name of defending the judiciary, is the height of hypocrisy!The Supreme Court has delivered body blows to him in recent weeks. The Electoral Bonds Scheme is but one example. The Supreme… https://t.co/R00ZRdWa7S
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) March 28, 2024
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge also responded to PM Modi’s post asking listing four points and asking him to stop blaming his party.
PM @narendramodi ji,You are talking about Judiciary.
1. You conveniently forget that 4 senior-most Supreme Court judges were forced to hold an unprecedented press conference and warn against “destruction of Democracy”. That happened under your regime.
One of the judges was…
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) March 28, 2024
Earlier in the day, over 600 lawyers from across India addressed a letter to the Chief Justice of India, expressing serious concerns over what they describe as political and professional pressure to influence judicial outcomes.
The letter titled, ‘Judiciary under threat – safeguarding judiciary from political and professional pressure’, was signed by prominent lawyers, including senior advocate Harish Salve, Manan Kumar Mishra, Adish Agarwal, Chetan Mittal, Pinky Anand and Swaroopama Chaturvedi, among others.
The letter alleges “actions of a specific interest group aiming to undermine the judiciary’s integrity.” This group, according to the lawyers, is employing pressure tactics to influence judicial outcomes, particularly in cases involving political figures and corruption allegations. These actions, they argue, pose a significant threat to the democratic fabric and the trust placed in judicial processes.
The lawyers have highlighted several concerning methods, including the “propagation of false narratives about a so-called ‘golden era’ of the judiciary, aimed at discrediting current proceedings and undermining public confidence in the courts.”