Secularism is under threat: Advocate Ram Jethmalani
‘All that the last election showed was people’s repugnance to corrupt politicians’
New Delhi: In a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government, senior advocate Ram Jethmalani told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that secularism was under serious threat.
Making his submissions before a five-judge Constitution Bench comprising Justices J.S. Khehar, J. Chelameswar, Madan Lokur, Kurian Joseph and A.K. Goel, hearing a batch of petitions challenging the validity of the National Judicial Appointments Commission law, the senior advocate expressed his anguish and said, “There’s not a single book either at the school or college level, teaching secularism to young people these days. I have been writing to the HRD minister, Ms Irani, asking them to prescribe one book ‘Religion Gone Astray,” he said.
He said, “We are not being able to teach secularism to the young people. My lords should assert themselves and not leave anything to politicians.” He made this submission to drive home the point that the NJAC should not be left to the mercy of politicians and the Executive.
Mr Jethmalani said the Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi has no answer to the criticism that the presence of the law minister in the NJAC will create apprehensions in the mind of a litigant public, who is fighting the Executive or seeking relief against illegal, unconstitutional or mala fide actions of the Executive.
He said the law minister, with the power of the whole government and access to all its money, can work wonders in getting any eminent person to support his choice of a judge.
He said, “Appointment of a superior court judges is a sacred duty and any lesser interest should be strictly excluded. A law minister who has to retain power is more interested in securing votes, serving a limited constituency and doing or not doing things according to the exigencies of vote bank politics and hence he cannot possibly be allowed to participate in NJAC and pollute this holy task.”
Concluding his arguments Mr Jethmalani said “All that the last election showed was people’s repugnance to corrupt politicians.” Arguments will continue on Thursday.