Criticism against Supreme Court judges for comments on Nupur ‘unwarranted’: Ashok Gehlot

The Rajasthan Chief Minister bats for independence of judiciary in the presence of Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday said the recent barrage of criticism against two Supreme Court judges, who had made some remarks on suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma, was “unwarranted”, as it sought to undermine the independence of judiciary. Mr. Gehlot said the judges could not function without fear or favour if they were attacked for their observations and judgments.

“A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and J.B. Pardiwala said something recently [about Nupur Sharma]. It is our duty to respect the judiciary. But 116 persons were made to stand up against them. They included former High Court and Supreme Court judges, bureaucrats, officers and several others,” Mr. Gehlot said while addressing an All India Legal Services Authorities’ meeting here.

The Supreme Court judges had made some oral comments on Ms. Sharma and held her responsible for “igniting emotions” across the country while hearing her plea to club all the first information reports registered against her in different parts of the country and transfer them to Delhi. Ms. Sharma faces the charge of making offensive remarks against Prophet Muhammad during a television debate.

Mr. Gehlot said it was beyond anyone’s understanding how an organised criticism of the Supreme Court judges was managed and an issue was created out of it. “The judges had expressed their views on the situation prevailing in the country, but an atmosphere was created against them,” he said in the presence of Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana.

The Chief Minister also drew the CJI’s attention to the desire among the judges for post-retirement assignments which could affect their functioning. He cited the instance of Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who was nominated as a Rajya Sabha member after his retirement as the CJI. “He was among the four judges who had said that democracy was in danger. Was he correct before or is he correct now?” Mr. Gehlot asked.

Mr. Gehlot criticised the trend of overthrowing of elected governments in the States through horse trading of MLAs and said this was making a “mockery of democracy”. He also asked Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, who was present in the conference, to convince Prime Minister Narendra Modi to issue an appeal for maintaining peace, brotherhood and communal harmony in the country.

“I have been making this request to the Prime Minister for several months, but he does not listen to us,” he said.