Former finance minister Yashwant Sinha, currently at odds with his party, the BJP, on Saturday, asked party colleagues and Ministers to “speak up for democracy” as the four sitting judges of the Supreme Court who had come out against the Chief Justice (CJI) on Friday.
Addressing a press conference, Mr Sinha asked his colleagues to “get rid of their fear” and “speak up.”
“Every citizen who feels for democracy should speak up. I will ask party (BJP) leaders and senior cabinet Ministers to speak up. I will appeal to them to get rid of their fears and speak up,” he said. “If four senior most Supreme Court judges say democracy is under threat, we have to take their words very seriously,” he added.
“It is obvious that attempts have been made to manage some sensitive cases,’’ he alleged, adding “corrective actions must be taken. People should be told which are these cases,” he said. He insisted, however, that while politicians should address the issues of lack of democracy, the administrative issues raised by the judges should be dealt internally by the judiciary.
Short Budget session
He also raised a red flag over short sessions of Parliament, like the Winter Session that ended on January 5. “If Parliament is compromised, the Supreme Court is not in order, then democracy is threatened,” he said. Referring to the first part of the Budget Session to be held between January 29-February 9, Mr Sinha said he had never heard of such short sessions and this was also a threat to democracy.
Like the Chief Justice in the Supreme Court, the Prime Minister was also first among equals in the government and his cabinet colleagues should speak up, he said. “I am personally aware of the fear in which members of the cabinet in this government are working, and that also is a threat to democracy” he added.
