Group of lawyers write to CJI against 'vested interest group'

A group of lawyers including senior advocate Harish Salve and Bar Council of India chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra have written to the Chief Justice of India alleging that a vested interest group is trying to pressure the judiciary and defame courts on the basis of frivolous logic and stale political agendasTheir pressure tactics are most obvious in political cases particularly those involving political figures accused of corruption These tactics are damaging to our courts and threaten our democratic fabric their letter dated March 26 addressed to CJI D Y Chandrachud saidThe letter shared by official sources targeted a section of lawyers without naming them and alleged that they defend politicians by the day and then try to influence judges through the media at nightThis interest group creates false narratives of a supposed better past and golden period of courts contrasting it with the happenings in the present the letter said claiming that their comments are aimed at influencing courts and embarrassing them for political gainsThe group of lawyers who are behind the letter titled Judiciary Under ThreatSafeguarding Judiciary from Political and Professional Pressure number around 600 and also include Adish Aggarwala Chetan Mittal Pinky Anand Hitesh Jain Ujjwala Pawar Uday Holla and Swarupama Chaturvedi the official sources saidThough the lawyers behind the letter have mentioned no specific cases the development comes at a time when courts are dealing with several highprofile criminal cases of corruption involving opposition leadersOpposition parties have accused the central government of targeting their leaders as part of its political vendetta a charge refuted by the ruling BJP These parties whose ranks include some noted lawyers have joined hands against the recent arrest of Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi excise policylinked money laundering caseTargeting critics these lawyers have accused them of suggesting that courts in the past were easier to influence This shakes the publics trust in courts they saidTheir antics are vitiating the atmosphere of trust and harmony which characterises the functioning of the judiciary they said in their letter to CJI ChandrachudThey have also concocted an entire theory of bench fixing which is not just disrespectful and contemptuous but an attack on the honour and dignity of courts the letter saidThey have also stooped to the level of comparing our courts to those countries where there is no rule of law and accusing our judicial institutions of unfair practices it saidThese critics have adopted the my way or the highway approach at work as they hail the decisions they agree with but any decision they disagree with is trashed smeared and disregarded they saidThis twofaced behaviour is harmful to the respect a common man should have for our legal system the letter said and claimed that this cherrypicking has been visible in very recent judgments tooSome elements are trying to influence who the judges are in their cases and spread lies on social media to put pressure on them to decide in a particular way they alleged in the letterQuestioning the timing the lawyers said it is all happening when the country is headed for the Lok Sabha elections 2024We are reminded of similar antics in 20182019 when they took to their hit and run activities including fabricating wrong narratives These efforts to belittle and manipulate the courts for personal and political reasons cannot be allowed under any circumstances they saidThey urged the Supreme Court to stand strong and take steps to protect courts from these alleged attacksStaying silent or doing nothing could accidentally give more power to those who mean to harm This is not the time to maintain dignified silence as such efforts are happening for a few years and too frequently they said adding that the CJIs leadership is crucial in these tough timesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever