Supreme Court Chief Justice DY Chandrachud has spoken openly about worshiping with PM Modi. PM Modi visited the house of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and worshiped. There was a lot of uproar after this. Opposition parties and others had said that it was not right for the Prime Minister to meet the Chief Justice like this. Now the CJI himself has given a statement on this. Before his retirement, he said that judicial matters are not discussed in such meetings. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud is retiring on November 10. Justice Sanjiv Khanna will replace him as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Responding to a question at Loksatta's annual lecture, the Chief Justice said it is a tradition for Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of High Courts to hold regular meetings. He said, “People wonder why these meetings take place. The maturity of our political system lies in the fact that there is a lot of respect for the judiciary even among the political class. This is well known. The budget of the judiciary comes from the state. This budget We need new court buildings, new residences for judges. For this, meetings of the Chief Justice are necessary.”
Meetings are also held with the Chief Minister
The Chief Justice said that he had earlier been the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court. “When the Chief Justice is appointed, he goes to the Chief Minister's house. Then the Chief Minister comes to the Chief Justice's house. The agenda is decided in these meetings. Suppose, there are 10 projects going on in the state, what is the infrastructure, the budget. What is the priority of these projects? Will you not have to meet for this? If all this is done on letters, the work will never be completed.
There was an uproar when the video came out
Prime Minister Modi had reached the residence of the Chief Justice. He also had a camera with him and a video was made here during the puja. There was a huge uproar when this video surfaced. Shiv Sena leaders Uddhav Thackeray and Sanjay Raut had raised questions on this. RJD leader and Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha had said that it is not wrong for the PM to go and worship at the Chief Justice's place, but the presence of cameras there raises doubts.
BJP had retaliated
Responding to the attack by opposition leaders, BJP leader Bhupendra Yadav had linked it to religion. He had said that people who appreciate the presence of Prime Ministers at Iftar parties get nervous seeing the Prime Minister at the Ganesh Puja at the Chief Justice's house. BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla had said that in 2009, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had organized an Iftar party, which was attended by the then Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan.
Image Credit: India-Tv.