‘Govt, political parties should stay away from ongoing crisis in judiciary’, says Modi

In an interview on Sunday, PM Narendra Modi refused to comment anything about the ongoing crisis in the judiciary.

New Delhi, Jan 22: All is not well with the Indian judiciary. The recent "rebellion" by the four topmost judges of the Supreme Court only blew the lid off the rot in the judiciary, considered to be the most trusted and strongest pillar of the Indian democracy.

On January 12, four top judges of the Supreme Court -- justices Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph-- addressed an extraordinary and unprecedented press conference where they said that "all is not well" with the Supreme Court and launched a sharp attack on Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra for "ignoring the concerns voiced by them".

Breaking his silence over the whole issue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the government and political parties must stay out of the ongoing crisis in the judiciary.

He, however, expressed confidence that the judiciary will sit together to find a solution to its problems. The PM added the Indian judiciary has a bright history and is full of very capable people.

"Our country's judiciary has a very bright past, they are very capable people. They will sit together and find a solution to their problems. I have faith in our justice system, they will definitely figure out a solution," he said during an interview to Times Now.

Asked about the crisis in the Supreme Court after its four senior-most judges came out to openly criticise allocation of sensitive cases by the CJI, creating an unprecedented situation in the higher judiciary, Modi said, "I think I should stay away from this debate. The government must also stay away. The political parties must also keep out of it."

To a question about opposition parties' alleged attempts to pull "high-profile" BJP leaders into the crisis the way they went after him when he was Gujarat chief minister, the PM said they had made several attempts to finish him politically.

"The path that they are on is what has helped me reach here," he said, taking a dig at the opposition parties.

While the PM has decided to stay away from commenting anything about the protest launched by the four judges of the Supreme Court, the ongoing crisis in the judiciary is far from over.

Reports say the CJI met the four judges twice after their press meet to resolve the crisis. However, the crisis continues and the CJI too is yet to present his "side of the story" at any public platform, which is creating doubts in the minds of the common man.

OneIndia News