The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday adopted a resolution condemning former Press Council of India chairman Markandey Katju for describing Mahatma Gandhi as a ``British agent'' in his personal blog.
As Opposition members raised the issue during Zero Hour, Leader of the House and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley joined them in condemning Mr. Justice (retd) Katju's comments and described it as a ``perverse statement''. He also added that Mahatma Gandhi was undoubtedly the greatest citizen of the country in recent era.
Having said this, Mr. Jaitley used the opportunity to ask members to reflect on how people with such mindsets get appointed to the Supreme Court. ``We are now trying to change that,'' he added for good measure.
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In his blog `Satyam Bruyat', Mr. Justice Katju – a retired judge of the Supreme Court – accused Mahatma Gandhi of furthering the British policy of divide-and-rule who ``successfully diverted the freedom struggle from this revolutionary direction to a harmless nonsensical channel called Satyagrah.''