No question of taking over judiciary; Modi govt works only adhering to the spirit of Constitution: Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju

Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday vehemently objected to the allegations that the current dispensation wants to take over the control of the judiciary. He stressed that Prime Minister Modi himself has said that the country will run only according to the spirit of the Constitution and his government will adhere to all its provisions.

"Then there remain no two ways about it. No need to put doubts in people's minds about it," he said.

Rijiju, while speaking at the 16th National Conference of Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad, however, mentioned that there have been some previous governments that desired a judiciary that would only be committed to their political leader, but the present government does not operate in a similar fashion.

"I have raised the issue of the collegium system on many platforms. Before 1993, there was no debate about the former system, however, after that, the provisions of the Constitution were interpreted to suit their own. I do not want to say much but everyone knows who was in power at that time," he said.

The Minister added that the elected political leaders are accountable to the people of the country. "Every five years, the public evaluates our work. However, though the judges are not elected by the people, their decisions are under public scrutiny through media, especially social media these days, he stated.

Therefore, he emphasised that the judges should also keep the accountability factor in mind.

Rijiju stressed that unlike previous Government, for Modi Government 'Committed judiciary' means judges who are committed to the 'nation', not to 'political leaders'.