'Motivated By Narrow Political Interests': 21 Former Judges Write To CJI To 'Safeguard Judiciary'

‘motivated by narrow political interests’ 21 former judges write to supreme court cji to ‘safeguard judiciary’

New Delhi: Raising concern about “calculated pressure” on judiciary, 21 ex-judges have written a letter to Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud mentioning attempt by “certain factions” to “undermine” the judiciary. They said these critics are motivated by narrow political interests and personal gains and are striving to erode public confidence in the judicial system.

Stating that these forces are escalating attempts by “certain factions to undermine the judiciary through calculated pressure, misinformation, and public disparagement”, they said that these actions disrespect the sanctity of our judiciary, reported news agency PTI.

These critics are motivated by narrow political interests and personal gains and are striving to erode public confidence in the judicial system, they said in a letter titled “Need to safeguard judiciary from unwarranted pressures”.

The letter does not specify the incidents that prompted them to write to the CJI. This comes days after over 500 lawyers wrote to the CJI seeking attention towards “vested interest group” trying to “pressurise judiciary”.

The former judges include four from the apex court, Deepak Verma, Krishna Murari, Dinesh Maheshwari and MR Shah.

Interestingly, the letter comes at a time when both BJP and the Congress have levelled against each other over undermining the judiciary. The BJP has accused the opposition of using the judicial decision selectively as several opposition leaders continue to seek relief from arrest.

The former jurists accused the critics of having insidious methods with clear attempts to sway judicial processes by casting aspersions on the integrity of courts and the judges.

“Such actions not only disrespect the sanctity of our judiciary but also pose a direct challenge to the principles of fairness and impartiality that judges, as guardians of the law, have sworn to uphold,” they said in the letter.

They said that the strategy employed by these groups is deeply troubling and it ranges from the propagation of baseless theories intended to malign the judiciary’s reputation to engaging in overt and covert attempts to influence judicial outcomes to their favour.

“This behaviour, we observe, is particularly pronounced in the cases and causes of social, economic and political significance, including the cases involving certain individuals, wherein the lines between advocacy and manoeuvring are blurred to the detriment of judicial independence,” the former judges added, quoted PTI.

They stressed upon the tactics of misinformation and the orchestration of public sentiment against the judiciary. “The practice of selectively praising judicial decisions that align with one’s views while vehemently criticising those that do not, undermines the very essence of judicial review and the rule of law,” they said.

Urging that the judiciary led by the Supreme Court should fortify against such pressures and ensure that the sanctity and autonomy of the legal system are preserved, they said that it is imperative that the judiciary remains a “pillar of democracy, immune to the whims and fancies of transient political interests”.