Twitter turned into a virtual battlefield yesterday when Congress president Rahul Gandhi sparred with Law Minister Ravishankar Prasad over the issue of appointment of judges and pendency of cases in the Indian judiciary.
It was Gandhi who began the war of words by attacking PM Narendra Modi’s government for not appointing adequate judges to courts at all levels, which has resulted in massive pendency of cases. Using a sly dig, he pointed out that there are over 55,000 cases pending in the Supreme Court, more than 37 lakh in High Courts and about 2.6 crore in lower courts.
The Congress president said a “staggering” 400 High Court judges and 6,000 lower court judges have not been appointed by the government, adding that despite such a situation, the Law Minister is “preoccupied peddling fake news”. He was referring to Ravishankar Prasad’s recent press conference in which he charged Congress of hiring a social media company to gain unlawful access to data belonging to millions of users and compromising national security.
Legal system collapsing under Pending Cases:
Supreme Court
55,000 +High Court
37 Lakh +Lower Courts
2.6 Crore +Yet, a staggering 400 High Court and 6,000 Lower Court judges not appointed, while Law Minister preoccupied peddling fake news. #JudiciaryDemonetised pic.twitter.com/qSpKcIuPKW
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 24, 2018
He also took a jibe at the Prime Minister by saying that the government stalled alleviation of High Court judge Justice KM Joseph because he had overturned President’s rule in Uttarakhand, which had “hurt Modi ji’s ego.”
Justice K M Joseph, overturned President’s rule in Uttarakhand in 2016.
When his name was proposed for the Supreme Court, Modi ji‘s ego was hurt.
Approval of over 100 judges, cleared for the Supreme Court and various High Courts are now on hold.#JudiciaryDemonetised
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 24, 2018
Law Minister Ravishankar Prasad responded back to Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of being “angry, frustrated and apprehensive” over a notice being sent to Cambridge Analytica for data manipulation. He also used a series of tweets to indicate how the Modi government has been working hard at improving problems of pendency and judicial appointments, which is a “legacy” of UPA’s rule.
Mr. Rahul Gandhi, the notice given to Cambridge Analytica for Data Manipulation has naturally worried you. Angry, frustrated and apprehensive, you are now dragging the judiciary. Deeply reprehensible.
— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) March 24, 2018
Prasad also hit back with numbers, claiming that average appointment of High Court judges under UPA-1 was 86 per year and 79 per year under UPA-2, while the present NDA government has increased that figure to 109 per year now. He also showed how efforts taken by the government have reduced pendency of cases.
Mr Rahul Gandhi, maintaining your track record your team has failed you once again by not doing their homework. Average appointments of High Court Judges under UPA-1 was 86 per year, and in UPA-2 it was 79 per year. Under NDA it has been 109 per year. pic.twitter.com/84QX8RK0jC
— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) March 24, 2018
Mr Rahul Gandhi, pendency is the legacy which UPA Govt of 10years had given us where judicial infrastructure development was the lowest priority. We r improving the situation by creating more infrastructure, more digitization & greater technology application in disposal of cases pic.twitter.com/VEQ2ak8WRr
— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) March 24, 2018