NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday slammed the BJP government at the Centre regarding its governance “antics” using the judiciary saying it is no secret that this control freak government is manipulating the judiciary.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “I am talking today about the approach, the antics of this government viz-a-viz a vital sector of governance in this country, an organ of governance known as the judiciary and with great regret.
“I have to start by saying that the Modi government’s approach to the judiciary smacks of three Is: Influence, Interference and Intimidation. It is no secret that this control freak, micro-managing, the dossier-loving government has been manipulating the judiciary,” he said.
He said that the government has excessively and selectively “delayed” judicial appointment proposals to the High Courts and to the Supreme Court, with Justice Akil Kureshi being only one of many such names. He also said that it has arbitrarily and selectively bifurcated approved judicial appointees’ lists to the higher judiciary to allow some from the original common list to be appointed quickly, while selectively delaying the appointment of others and thereby irreversibly lowering their relative seniority.
The Congress leader also alleged that the government has created an “ambience” of fear, trepidation, anxiety and hesitation in the judiciary by misusing government dossiers to make oblique insinuations about judges.
He further said that Congress intends to create in the near future legislative enactments encapsulating, in letter and spirit, as many as possible of the SC guidelines through appropriate state amendments.
“This will be done using the due process of law, in accordance with the Constitution and subject to the due legislative process,” Singhvi added.