323 lawyers from across the country on Wednesday condemn over Law Minister Kiren Rijiju's comment on retired judges and further issued an open response to the Union Minister.

Reportedly, the lawyers in the open response to Law Minister Kiren Rijiju's "hectoring and bullying" of retired "activist' judges at a media house conclave dated March 18, 2023 where he calls them as "anti-India gang", asked him to publicly withdraw his "outrageous" remarks and "threats" unbecoming of his office.

"Such hectoring and bullying are unbecoming of the high office held by the Minister. We may remind the Minister that criticism of the government is neither against the nation, nor unpatriotic, nor 'anti-India'. He must remember that the government of the day is not the nation, and the nation is not the government," the response stated.”

The response is signed by senior advocates like Iqbal Chagla, Janak Dwarakadas, Kapil Sibal, A.M. Singhvi, Dushyant Dave, Arvind Datar, Raju Ramachandran, C.U. Singh, Sriram Panchu, R. Vaigai, Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Nitya Ramakrishnan, advocates Prashant Bhushan and Shadan Farasat, and other advocates from various High Courts.

They added that by threatening the retired judges, the Law Minister is clearly sending a message to every citizen, that "no voice of dissent will be spared".

They reminded the Law Minister that these retired judges, to whom he put allegations of anti-nationalism, were people "who have dedicated their lives to upholding the rule of law, and the naked threat of reprisals against them, marks a new low in the public discourse of our great nation".

The response said they are compelled to remind the Union Minister Kiren Rijiju that, as a Member of Parliament, he is "sworn to uphold and bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India".

And also, "As Minister of Law and Justice, it is his duty to protect the judicial system, the judiciary and the judges, both past and present. It is no part of his duty to single out some retired judges with whose opinion he might disagree, and to issue public threats of action by law enforcement agencies against them."

They said, "these unacceptable threats meted out against retired judges have the effect of inciting the public against our judges and judicial system and deserve to be strongly condemned."

"The nation owes a debt of gratitude to our retired judges," they added.

The signatories further said the Minister must realise that by virtue of his office and that he is the bridge between the executive and judicial wings of the state, and that he must therefore maintain a dignified public discourse.

And therefore, the lawyers have urged the Minister to publicly withdraw his remarks and refrain from making such remarks in the future.

(Source-LiveLaw)