Over 320 lawyers respond to Law Minister’s attack on retired judges, ask him to publicly withdraw his ‘outrageous remarks’

Over 320 lawyers from across the country on Wednesday issued an open response to Law Minister Kiren Rijiju’s “hectoring and bullying” of retired “activist’ judges at a media house conclave by calling them part of an “anti-India gang”, asking him to publicly withdraw his “outrageous” remarks and “threats” unbecoming his office.

Over 320 lawyers from across the country on Wednesday issued an open response to Law Minister Kiren Rijiju's "hectoring and bullying" of retired "activist' judges at a media house conclave by calling them part of an "anti-India gang", asking him to publicly withdraw his "outrageous" remarks and "threats" unbecoming his office.

The response is signed by senior advocates like Iqbal Chagla, Janak Dwarakadas, Kapil Sibal, A.M. Singhvi, Dushyant Dave, Arvind Datar, Raju Ramachandran, C.U. Singh, Sriram Panchu, R. Vaigai, Gopal Sankaranarayanan, advocates Prashant Bhushan, Nitya Ramakrishnan, Shadan Farasat and Shoeb Alam and other advocates from various High Courts.

They said the Minister has made it clear that "no voice of dissent will be spared".

"Such hectoring and bullying are unbecoming of the high office held by the Minister. We may remind the Minister that criticism of the government is neither against the nation, nor unpatriotic, nor 'anti-India'. He must remember that the government of the day is not the nation, and the nation is not the government," the response said.

They reminded the Law Minister that these retired judges, against whom he has levelled allegations of anti-nationalism, were people "who have dedicated their lives to upholding the rule of law, and the naked threat of reprisals against them, marks a new low in the public discourse of our great nation".

The response reminded Mr. Rijiju that, as a Member of Parliament, he was "sworn to uphold and bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India".

"As Minister of Law and Justice, it is his duty to protect the judicial system, the judiciary and the judges, both past and present. It is no part of his duty to single out some retired judges with whose opinion he might disagree, and to issue public threats of action by law enforcement agencies against them," the lawyers made it clear.