Government intimidating judiciary: Congress

The AICC on Tuesday accused the Modi government of adopting an approach of "intimidation", "interference" and "influence" towards judiciary and charged that the ruling BJP "is on a spree" to "sabotage, subjugate, and subvert the judiciary".

Senior Congress leader and lawyer Abhishek Singhvi presented a scathing critique from the AICC podium: "The ruling establishment has a) excessively but selectively delayed judicial appointment proposals... b) It has arbitrarily bifurcated approved judicial appointees' lists to the higher judiciary, again selectively, to allow some from the original common list to be appointed quickly, while selectively appointing others after a considerable time lag, thereby irreversibly prejudicing their inter se seniority". c) It has inaugurated an ambiance of fear, trepidation, anxiety and hesitation in the judicial sector by the misuse of dossier raj and oblique insinuations based thereupon..."

He pointed to the "attack" that followed an SC bench's observations against former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. "BJP appears to have empowered its goons...to intimidate judges," he charged.