Accusing Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju of consistently attempting to тАЬpressurise the judiciaryтАЭ, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut on March 19, hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Centre and said that a move was afoot to suspend Congressman Rahul Gandhi from the Parliament as he had raised his voice about the threats to Indian democracy.
Mr. Raut, a Rajya Sabha MP, was alluding to Mr. RijijuтАЩs recent remarks made at a media conclave where the Minister allegedly claimed that some retired judges and activists who were тАЬpart of the anti-India gangтАЭ were trying to cast the Indian judiciary in the role of the Opposition party.
Reacting to the MinisterтАЩs remarks, Mr. Raut, while talking to reporters in Mumbai, said, тАЬWhat kind of a democracy is this? Does it suit the Law Minister to threaten the judiciary? It [Mr. RijijuтАЩs remarks] is a threat to judges who refuse to bow down to the government and is an attempt to pressurise the judiciary.тАЭ
Mr. Raut questioned as to how a Law Minister, who thus threatened judges, could occupy the position once held by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.
Violating norms
Lashing out at the BJP-ruled Centre, Mr. Raut said that ever since it came to power in 2014, it had been violating parliamentary, judicial and constitutional norms.
тАЬThey [BJP government] are interfering in the working of agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). They have seized the law and order machinery,тАЭ alleged Mr. Raut.
He hit out at the BJPтАЩs demand for Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to apologise for his comments made recently about Indian democracy being in peril and of a тАЬfull-scale assaultтАЭ being made on the countryтАЩs institutions at Cambridge, England.
тАЬWhy should Rahul Gandhi apologise? If it is all about an apology, then there are many Ministers of the BJP who need to do it first. They switched off Mr. GandhiтАЩs mic in Parliament, and put people like me in jails to shut our mouths,тАЭ Mr. Raut said, adding that criticising the government did not mean being against the nation.
тАЬThey switched off Mr. GandhiтАЩs mic in Parliament, and put people like me in jails to shut our mouthsтАЭSanjay RautShiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader