Lawyers' letter to CJI: Congress, PM Modi in war of words

The Congress on Thursday (March 28) hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi after his criticism of the party over a lawyers' letter to the chief justice of India (CJI) against a "vested interest group", saying the PM's brazenness in orchestrating an attack on the judiciary, in the name of defending it, is the "height of hypocrisy".

Earlier in the day, Modi said it is a "vintage Congress culture" to browbeat and bully others, remarks that came in reaction to more than 600 lawyers writing to the CJI D Y Chandrachud, alleging that a "vested interest group" is trying to put pressure on the judiciary and defame courts.

'Height of hypocrisy'

Hitting back at the prime minister, Congress general secretary in-charge, communications, Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X, "The PM's brazenness in orchestrating and coordinating an attack on the judiciary, in the name of defending the judiciary, is the height of hypocrisy!"

"The Supreme Court has delivered body blows to him in recent weeks. The Electoral Bonds Scheme is but one example. The Supreme Court declared them to be unconstitutional – and it is now proved beyond doubt that they were a blatant instrument of fear, blackmail, and intimidation to force companies to donate to the BJP," he said.

Instead of giving a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP), the prime minister has given a legal guarantee to corruption, he alleged.

"All that the Prime Minister has done in the last ten years is divide, distort, divert, and defame. 140 crore Indians are waiting to give him a befitting reply very soon," Ramesh said.

What lawyers wrote

More than 600 lawyers, including senior advocate Harish Salve and Bar Council chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra, wrote to Chandrachud, alleging that a "vested interest group" is trying to put pressure on the judiciary and defame courts, especially in cases of corruption involving politicians.

In a post on X, Modi said, "To browbeat and bully others is vintage Congress culture. 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."

Senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan also questioned PM Modi. "Government's favourite lawyer Salve tried very hard to stop the exposé of bribery and extortion details of Electoral Bonds. His accounts in tax havens were exposed by the Panama and Pandora papers. He now leads a pack of 600 nondescript lawyers trying to influence the CJI to back off from tough orders. How many of these bond donors are Salve’s clients? Amazing that Modi tweets in support of this letter!" he wrote on X.