‘JUDICIARY OPERATING IN FEAR UNDER NDA GOVT’
RAIPUR: Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the controversial government formation in Karnataka, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday that the Constitution was under “severe attack” and that the state of judiciary in India had become akin to that in Pakistan.
The BJP emerged as the single-largest party in Karnataka with 104 of the 222 seats that went to the polls but the Congress with 78 seats and Janata Dal (Secular) with 38 seats formed a post-poll alliance. The governor invited the BJP and BS Yeddyurappa took oath as chief minister on Thursday morning after a midnight Supreme Court appeal by the Congress to stay the swearing-in failed. The court will hear the case on Friday.
Speaking in Chhattisgarh hours after the oath ceremony, Gandhi said that the judiciary, press and even BJP parliamentarians were operating under fear.
“People approach the judiciary for justice but for the first time in history four sitting judges of the Supreme Court came in front of public and claimed they are not allowed to perform their duties and they want public support,” he said, referring to an unprecedented press conference by justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph in January.
The judges had raised questions about how the Chief Justice of India was allocating sensitive and important cases.
“It definitely happens under dictatorship, it happens in Pakistan, it happens in different African countries, (where) a general comes and suppresses court and press, but in India it has happened for the first time in last 70 years,” he said.
Gandhi also accused the Karnataka governor of being “on the other” side and said “our constitution is under severe attack.”