NEW DELHI, Oct 21: The Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav on Monday triggered a massive row after he allegedly abused Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on camera when asked about the latter’s ‘prayed for Ayodhya verdict’ remark.
However, after facing backlash, Yadav claimed that his comments were on the communal riots in Bahraich district in Uttar Pradesh and had made no reference to the CJI.
“I do not want to make any comments. When you bring ghosts back to life, when you bring the dead back to life, they become ghosts and start following justice. Where are they now?… Forget it, all such ******* people keep on saying such things. Should I take notice of them?” Ram Gopal Yadav had told reporters.
Later, Yadav clarified his controversial remark, denying making any such objectionable statement against the CJI. He argued that he was asked to respond to the Bahraich violence and not to Mr Justice Chandrachud’s Ayodhya remark. “Nobody asked me anything about the CJI. The CJI is a very reputed person. I never made any comment (on him). I was asked about Bahraich (violence) and I responded to that,” he said.
Responding to Yadav’s objectionable remark against the Chief Justice, party supremo Akhilesh Yadav affirmed he was not aware of the statement made by his uncle and said, “We all respect the CJI.”
Addressing an event in Pune on Sunday, CJI Chandrachud said he had prayed to God for a solution to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute and asserted God will find a way if one has faith. ”Very often we have cases (to adjudicate) but we don’t arrive at a solution. Something similar happened during the Ayodhya (Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute) which was in front of me for three months. I sat before the deity and told him he needed to find a solution,” he said.
A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by then-Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi settled a fractious issue that went back more than a century by paving the way for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on November 9, 2019.
The bench also ruled that a mosque would come up on an alternative five-acre plot in Ayodhya itself. CJI Chandrachud was part of the bench that delivered the historic verdict. The other members of the bench were Justices SA Bobde, Ashok Bhushan and SA Nazeer.
Congress leader Udit Raj remarked on Monday that had the CJI prayed for other pressing concerns as well, such as ‘CBI, and ED misuse,’ those matters might have also been addressed. Senior Congress leader and former MP Udit Raj said, “Chief Justice Chandrachud ji said he had prayed to God for the solution of the Ayodhya issue. If he had prayed for some other issues, they would have also been resolved like a common man could get justice from the High Court and Supreme Court without money.”
The Congress leader added that had CJI prayed for the ‘misuse of ED, CBI and Income Tax,’ it would have stopped. Responding to the Congress leader’s remark on the Chief Justice, the BJP took a sharp jibe by saying that the INDIA bloc leaders never pray to God which is a common practice in ‘Sanatan culture.’
(Manas Dasgupta)
