Hyderabad: Writer and former minister Arun Shourie on Friday said that the judiciary was facing a greater threat from internal forces than from the outside.
Speaking at an event organised by Manthan a forum for public discourse, Mr Shourie said the Justice B.H. Loya case was a live example for the state of affairs in judiciary.
He said that the Delhi High Court which had ordered that the judge hearing the Sohrabuddin encounter case should not be transferred, and the trial should conducted on a day-to-day basis, had remained silent when Justice Loya was transferred on the day he ordered the presence of BJP chief Amit Shah.
He said that to curtail the efforts of a group of lawyers seeking an independent probe into Judge Loya’s death, a PIL was moved before the Supreme Court and “the apex court did what the people predicted,” Mr Shourie was speaking on the topic “What are our courts doing? What should we do about them?”
He opined that the recent cracks in the judiciary with regard to the collegium and conventions governing the way cases are to be assigned among judges have provided a dangerous opportunity to political rulers to suborn the institution.
He felt that the gap between the judiciary and the government had widened after the quashing of the National Judicial Appointments Commission.
Referring to his new book, ‘Anita Gets Bail’, he said that he had illustrated 50 judgements which would reflect that the judges are not even thinking the consequences of their judgements.
Asking why those involved in perjury and those dragging cases were not punished, he said that the courts that deliver ringing judgements do not care to look if their directions are being implemented.
Referring to a judgement of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, he said that even the Supreme Court was unable to comprehend the prose of the judge and remanded the matter to the judge to give a fresh hearing.
Replying a query about his joining the BJP, Mr Shourie replied that BJP of today was not like the party he joined 10 years ago during the tenure of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and Mr L.K. Advani.
He said that the line between right and wrong had been erased in BJP and as well as the judiciary.
