Senior BJP leader and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday said that the commitment to judicial, media and individual freedom is one of the Modi government’s “fundamentals”, as he cited the party’s leaders’ fight against the Emergency to reject criticism over a Delhi High Court judge’s transfer.
Asked about the Congress’ attack on the government over the transfer of Justice S Muralidhar, Prasad hit back at the party, noting that its government in the 1970s had superseded Supreme Court judges, a move seen as an assault on judicial independence.
The Minister reiterated that Muralidhar’s transfer had nothing to do with any case, as a recommendation to this effect was already made by the Supreme Court collegium, and the judge had also given his consent. “It (transfer) was part of the process. By same process dozens of judges have been transferred,” Prasad told reporters.
The Congress has alleged that Justice Muralidhar was transferred by the government to save BJP leaders in the Delhi violence case which he was hearing.
Prasad said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and many other senior functionaries of this government, including he himself, had fought against the Emergency for individual, judicial and media freedom. “Our commitment to these freedoms, have been a fundamental (to the government),” he said.