Soon after the late-night transfer of Delhi High Court Judge S Muralidhar, who had pulled up the Delhi Police for inaction during the riots in north-east Delhi, a political slugfest erupted between Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
While Priyanka Gandhi accused the government of trying to “muzzle justice” and shake people’s belief in the judicial system in a Thursday morning tweet, Prasad accused the Congress of showing “scant regard” for the judiciary.
“The midnight transfer of Justice Muralidhar isn’t shocking given the current dispensation, but it is certainly sad & shameful. Millions of Indians have faith in a resilient & upright judiciary, the government’s attempts to muzzle justice & break their faith are deplorable,” the Congress general secretary tweeted.
In a series of tweets, Prasad defended the move and accused the grand old party of “compromising independence of judiciary, superseding judges even of Supreme Court” during Emergency in 1975-1977. “They (Congress) rejoice only when the judgment is of their liking otherwise raise questions on the institutions itself,” he said.