Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud’s residence for Ganpati puja has sparked a controversy, with opposition leaders and lawyers criticising the move.
Modi was on September 11 seen participating in a puja at Chandrachud’s residence following which questions were raised over CJI’s ability to deliver a fair judgement. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said, "Ganpati festival is going on, people visit each other's houses. I don't have the information regarding how many houses PM visited so far. But he went to CJI's residence and they performed 'Aarti' together.”
Raut also raised doubts if the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Sena would get justice under Chandrachud and suggested him to distance himself from an ongoing case – where Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sunil Prabhu has challenged the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar’s ruling. The ruling had declared the Eknath Shinde-led faction as the real Shiv Sena.
According to Raut, the Chief Justice should recuse himself from the case as his 'relations' with the head of the central government are 'openly visible'.
Reacting to PM Modi’s visit, senior advocate and former Additional Solicitor General (ASG), Indira Jaising said that the Chief Justice of India has compromised the separation of powers between the executive and judiciary. She urged the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) to condemn the event. “Lost all confidence in the independence of the CJI,” Jaising wrote on social media platform X.
Echoing similar sentiments, senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan said it was shocking that CJI Chandrachud allowed Modi to visit him at his residence for a private meeting. “Sends a very bad signal to the judiciary which is tasked with the responsibility of protecting fundamental right of citizens from the executive and ensuring that the government acts within bounds of Constitution. That is why there has to be an arms length separation between the executive and judiciary,” he wrote.
In another social media post, Bhushan quoted the ‘Code of Conduct for Judges’, “A Judge should practice a degree of aloofness consistent with the dignity of his office. There should be no act or omission by him which is unbecoming of the high office he occupies and the public esteem in which that office is held.”
BJP defends PM’s visit:
BJP MP Sambit Patra, addressing a press conference on September 12, slammed Opposition leaders for criticising Modi’s visit. He also hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his meeting with US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. “If the Prime Minister is meeting the CJI, you have a problem, but if you are meeting anti-national people in the US, then there is no problem.”
“Should the different pillars of democracy not converge? Should they be enemies? Should they have no courtesies towards each other?” Patra questioned.
BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla, in a post on X, said attending Ganesh puja is no crime and added that there are various instances when judiciary and politicians share stage. He was responding to the comments made by Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi over PM Modi-Chandrachud meet.
"After the festivities are over, hopefully the CJI will deem fit and be slightly freer to conclude the hearing on Maharashtra and the blatant disregard of Article 10 of the Constitution in Maharashtra. Oh wait, elections are round the corner anyway, it can be adjourned for another day," Chaturvedi tweeted.
Indian lawyer and politician Mahesh Jethmalani, meanwhile, said that the Prime Minister did nothing wrong by attending puja at the CJI's residence. His remarks came during an interaction with CNN-News18.
In a video, CJI Chandrachud and his wife Kalpana Das were seen welcoming Modi at their house. Modi was then seen participating in the puja at their residence.
The Prime Minister wore traditional Maharashtrian attire as he joined the celebrations at the CJI's residence.
"Joined Ganesh Puja at the residence of CJI, Justice DY Chandrachud Ji. May Bhagwan Shri Ganesh bless us all with happiness, prosperity and wonderful health," Modi said in a post on X.
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