Indore, Mar 22 (PTI) Former law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday said he fully respects the independence of the judiciary but judicial accountability should also be considered somewhere.
The senior BJP leader was responding to a question about the alleged recovery of cash from the official residence of a judge of the Delhi High Court.
“I will only say that the country expects it should trust the personality, honesty and transparency of judges. However, we fully respect the independence of the judiciary.” Prasad said the Supreme Court is looking into the HC judge matter as per its prescribed procedure.
“You know that when I was the law minister, we had introduced the National Judicial (Appointment) Commission. The Supreme Court struck it down, but now perhaps judicial accountability should also be considered somewhere,” he said.
Through NJAC, the government had proposed to replace the collegium system for appointing judges.
Prasad called himself a big supporter of fairness and honesty of the judiciary.
Replying to another question, the ex-Union minister said judges should become more sensitive in matters related to “daughters and girls”.
He said, “I want to say with great humility that when there is a talk of ‘Beti Bachao’ and ‘Beti Padhao’ in the country, then it is also the duty of the judges to ensure that sensitivity is maintained towards daughters.” Prasad called the provision of four per cent reservation for Muslims in government contracts by the Congress government of Karnataka unconstitutional and said the move has taken away the rights of Other Backward Classes (OBC).
“The Supreme Court has repeatedly said that reservation cannot be given to any community based on religion and way of worshipping. This is also prohibited in the Constitution. Still, how far will the Congress go in its greed for votes,” he asked.
On Congress leader Rahul Gandhi raising questions about the merit system in the country, Prasad said he should first specify by what qualification he has become the Lok Sabha leader of the opposition.
“Merit rules have been blatantly disregarded in his appointment to this post,” he claimed.
On the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) repeatedly raising questions about the “mental health” of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Prasad said, “RJD keeps saying something or the other every day. I have nothing to comment on this.” He said Bihar was pushed towards anarchy during the RJD’s rule. Nitish Kumar has done good work in the state as its CM, said the BJP leader. Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) and BJP are allies in Bihar, where assembly elections will be held this year.
“BJP has a very old and strong relationship with Nitish Kumar,” added Prasad. PTI HWP ADU NR
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