After 600 lawyers wrote to CJI DY Chandrachud against 'vested interests' trying to influence the judiciary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said browbeating and bullying others were vintage Congress culture. "To browbeat and bully others is vintage Congress culture," he said in a tweet. "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," the Prime Minister said. "No wonder 140 crore Indians are rejecting them."
More than 600 lawyers, including senior advocate Harish Salve, have written to the Chief Justice of India, alleging that a "vested interest group" is trying to put pressure on the judiciary and defame courts "on the basis of frivolous logic and stale political agendas".
"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," they said in a letter dated March 26 addressed to CJI D Y Chandrachud.
The lawyers allege that 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." The letter states that this interest group operates in various ways. "They create false narratives of a supposed 'better past' and 'golden period of the courts, contrasting it with the happenings in the present. These are nothing but intentional statements, made to sway court decisions and to embarrass the court's for certain political gains. It's troubling to see some lawyers defend politicians by the day, and then try to influence judges through the media at night. Implying that the courts in the past were easier to influence shakes the public's trust in them."