Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress party on Thursday, two days after several top lawyers wrote to the Chief Justice of India expressing concerns over attempts to undermine the judiciary's integrity using political pressure.
“To browbeat and bully others is vintage Congress culture. Five 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,” Modi said in a post on X.
“No wonder 140 crore Indians are rejecting them,” he added.
At least 600 lawyers, including senior advocate Harish Salve and Bar Council chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra, wrote to CJI D.Y. Chandrachud on March 26, alleging that a "vested interest group" is trying to put pressure on the judiciary and defame courts, especially in cases of corruption involving politicians.
The lawyers have not mentioned any specific cases, but the development comes at a time when courts are dealing with several high-profile criminal cases of corruption involving opposition leaders.
"We are writing to you expressing our deepest concern on the manner in which a vested interest group is trying to pressure the judiciary, influence judicial process and defame our courts on the basis of frivolous logic and stale political agendas,” the letter said.
"Their antics are vitiating the atmosphere of trust and harmony, which characterises the functioning of the judiciary. Their pressure tactics are most obvious in political cases, particularly those involving political figures accused of corruption. These tactics are damaging to our courts and threaten our democratic fabric," said the lawyers.
