Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju has slammed Sonia Gandhi for accusing the government of delegitimising the judiciary and said it was her Congress party which in the past tried to gain control over the judiciary through various steps including appointment of Chief Justice of India superseding several more senior SC judges.
Rijiju said that it was Congress which wanted that judges should be committed to the government, to the party, while the country now under the leadership of PM Modi wanted judges who are committed to the country. The law minister was speaking at the 16th National Conference of Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad at the Kurukshetra university.
Rijiju said: “Under the leadership of PM Modi we have taken several steps to strengthen the judiciary which shows our respect to the judiciary. But sometimes you get to hear that there is a lot of tension, friction between the government and the judiciary. We also get to hear that we are trying to gain control over the judiciary, and that we are questioning the authority of the judiciary, sometimes political statements also come.”
“Three days ago, a leader of political party raised questions. And media also added some masala to it to sell the news. But ever since Narendra Modi became PM, we have always valued our constitution as a holy document and said that the country will run as per the constitution. But we should remember who is harming the constitution and (who) functioned contrary to what is written in the constitution several years ago,” the Law Minister said.
He further claimed that some steps were taken by the then government which superseded seniority of the judges. Rijiju’s indirect reference may refer to Indira Gandhi, who, as PM, appointed CJI’s superseding seniority of other judges twice- making Justice A N Ray and Justice M H Beg as CJIs.
“They wanted a judiciary committed to the government or a party. Whoever becomes judge he should work for the government. They wanted it that way. But for us, whoever becomes judge should be committed to the country and not to the government. For us, judiciary should be committed to the country… but for them, judiciary should be committed to their party. It is they who accuse us of delegitimising judiciary and trying to gain control over the judiciary. We cannot even think of it. PM Modi has already stated several times that country will run according to the spirit of the constitution,” Rijiju said.
The ‘supersessions’ by then PM Indira Gandhi
Justice A N Ray is perhaps best known for his controversial appointment as the 14th Chief Justice of India in 1973. In an unprecedented departure from convention, the Indira Gandhi Government appointed him as CJI over three senior. Following CJI Ray’s retirement, Justice M H Beg was appointed as CJI, superseding the senior-most Judge of the Court Justice H R Khanna, presumably in retaliation for Justice Khanna dissent in ADM Jabalpur Vs Shivakant Shukla (1976) ADM Jabalpur case, also known as Habeus Corpus case is about the Supreme Court of India’s landmark verdict during the Emergency that put the State’s interest over personal liberty. This case was widely criticised for threatening the fundamental rights of the Indian Constitution.
The two supersessions under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi were heavily criticised then
Without naming Sonia Gandhi, the Law Minister was apparently responded to Sonia Gandhi’s criticism that BJP was delegitimising the judiciary of the country. Earlier too, Rijiju had countered Sonia’s statement saying – “What Sonia Gandhi ji had remarked, I was not upset, I was amazed that the way she accused our government of taking over judiciary. In 8 years of our government’s tenure under Modi Ji, not a single instance can be shown where we have undermined judiciary, the accusations are false.”
