Mumbai | New Delhi: Opposition parties have raised concerns after Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended Ganesh Puja celebrations at Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud’s residence.
Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction has asked the CJI to recuse himself from hearing cases concerning splits in Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress.
“The chief justice has himself said that this is an illegal government. However, the final decision (on Sena and NCP split) has still not come yet. Now the time has come for his retirement, the prime minister has come to his home. So, there are doubts among the people whether there is something else being done to save the government or finish parties like ours,” said Sanjay Raut, Rajya Sabha MP from Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray.
“Are they doing something to save the government? There were doubts among the people and it has become stronger since yesterday. Legal experts are discussing whether this visit was as per protocol and the Constitution. The chief justice should recuse himself from the case. The PM himself is a party in our case. For three years we have just been getting dates after dates,” said Raut.
Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar said under BJP government at the Centre newer precedents are being set. He, however, avoided any direct criticism of the CJI by saying that since the visit pertained to ‘Ganpati Bappa’ he would not comment on it.
Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) described the visit as ‘surprising’ but, like Congress, avoided a direct criticism. “Both the PM and CJI are senior to me in terms of age and experience. So, it will not be appropriate for me to comment. However, such an incident is unheard of. I was also surprised, but I have full faith in the courts and the respected CJI might have given a thought before inviting the PM,” said Sule.
RJD MP Manoj Jha said: “Independence of every institution should not be just theoretical, it should be visible. Ganpati Puja is a very personal issue, you are going there with a camera. The message being sent out makes one uncomfortable,” Jha said. He wondered why Prime Minister Modi and the CJI released the photographs of the event.
(With Agency Inputs)
