Modi Attacks Congress as Senior Lawyers Express Concern over Threat to Judicial Integrity
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 28: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched a strong attack on the Congress after hundreds of lawyers and some bar associations across the country wrote to the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud alleging that a “vested interest group” was trying to put pressure on the judiciary and defame courts and expressed concerns over attempts to undermine the judiciary’s integrity using political and professional pressure.
Without bothering to know if the lawyers writing the letter had any political affiliations, Mr Modi took it as the Congress affront on the BJP and wrote on X, “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,” Mr Modi added.
PM Modi’s comments came after over 600 lawyers including likes of Harish Salve, Bar Council of India chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra and Chetan Mittal wrote to the CJI about the attempts made to undermine the judiciary’s integrity by some “vested interest group” and defame courts especially in cases of corruption involving politicians.
Union Minister and Arunachal West candidate Kiren Rijiju, who earlier held the Law and Judiciary portfolio in the Modi cabinet, said sane voices are openly coming out now, referring to the letter by the lawyers. “These Congress people coined the concept of committed judiciary and suspended Indian Constitution. The Congress and leftists want courts and constitutional authorities to serve them or else they immediately start attacking the very institutions,” Mr Rijiju said.
Yesterday, the All Manipur Bar Association had also written to the CJI highlighting the need to speak out against “underhanded attacks” on the judiciary. The bar association in the letter had said it was extremely concerned about recent trends where vested interest groups were trying to defame the courts with “frivolous logic” and “stale political agendas.”
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, responding to PM Modi, said the Prime Minister’s comments “is the height of hypocrisy.” “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…” Mr Ramesh said in a post on X. “All that the Prime Minister has done in the last 10 years is divide, distort, divert, and defame. 140 crore Indians are waiting to give him a befitting reply very soon,” the Congress leader said.
The other letter by over 600 lawyers was titled ‘Judiciary Under Threat – Safeguarding Judiciary From Political and Professional Pressure’. The letter highlighted how “vested interest group” it trying to apply pressure on the Indian judiciary. The lawyers said the tactics used by the vested interest group “are damaging to our courts and threaten our democratic fabric.” Chief Justice Chandrachud’s leadership was crucial in these “tough times” and the Supreme Court should stand strong, they said, adding it was not the time to maintain dignified silence. The letter, shared by official sources, also targeted a section of lawyers without naming them and alleged that they defend politicians by day and then try to influence judges through the media at night.
