600 Lawyers in Letter to CJI: 'Judiciary Under Threat From Political Pressure'

Over 600 lawyers from across India, including prominent lawyers Harish Salve, Manan Kumar Mishra, Adish Agarwala, Chetan Mittal, Pinky Anand, Hitesh Jain, Ujjwala Pawar, Uday Holla, Swaroopama Chaturvedi have signed a letter to addressed a letter to the Chief Justice of India expressing concern over attempts to undermine the judiciary’s integrity.

The letter reads, "As people who work to uphold the law, we think it's time to stand up for our courts. We need to come together and speak out against the underhanded attacks, making sure our courts stay as pillars of our democracy, untouched by these calculated attacks."

The letter says the actions of a specific interest group aim to undermine the judiciary’s integrity. It expresses serious concerns over political and professional pressure to influence judicial outcomes. The letter is titled ‘Judiciary under threat—safeguarding judiciary from political and professional pressure.’

“They create false narratives of a supposed ‘better past’ and ‘golden period’ of the courts, contrasting it with the happenings in the present. These are nothing but intentional statements, made to sway court decisions and to embarrass the court’s for certain political gains. It’s troubling to see some lawyers defend politicians by the day, and then try to influence judges through the media at night. Implying that the courts in the past were easier to influence shakes the public’s trust in them,” the letter read.

Read Full Letter Here:

Prominent lawyers including Harish Salve, Manan kumar Mishra, Adish agarwala, Chetan Mittal, Pinky Anand, Hitesh Jain, Ujjwala Pawar, Uday Holla, Swaroopama Chaturvedi are among over 600 lawyers who have addressed a letter to CJI expressing concern over attempts to undermine the… pic.twitter.com/xidA927Sbb

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 28, 2024

The letter has also accused the pressure group of floating a theory of ‘bench fixing’, calling it “disrespectful and contemptuous.” “They have also stooped to the level of comparing our courts to those countries where there is no rule of law and accusing our judicial institutions with unfair practices,” lawyers said in the letter.

The lawyers have also hit out at the “tactics employed by the interest group involving selective criticism or praise of court decisions based on their political agenda” described it as a “My way or the highway” approach.