Congress says BJP organising personal attacks on judges

The Congress charge came a day after a group of “concerned citizens”, including former judges and bureaucrats, criticised the recent Supreme Court observations against suspended BJP member Nupur Sharma. The Opposition party alleged that “the statement was clearly drafted with the blessings of the PM’s office”.

Rajya Sabha and Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said: “The attacks on judges are not just random and piecemeal incidents. “Rather they are organised, standardised, and institutionalised. The trolling messages from these trolls are extended, encouraged, and endorsed by BJP leaders and their supporters (and) the main objective behind such campaigns is to demoralise, pressurise, and terrorise the judiciary,” he said.

Earlier this week, Supreme Court judge Justice J B Pardiwala, one of the judges who was part of the Bench which refused to entertain a plea by Sharma to club multiple FIRs against her for her alleged remarks about the Prophet, had expressed concern over the use of digital and social media for “expressing personalised opinions” against judges.

Arguing that the Supreme Court had “rightly and correctly called out Sharma for her arrogance and lack of regret for her inflammatory remarks,” Singhvi said a responsible party and government would have done some introspection and recalibration.

“An organized army of trolls was deployed to manufacture and spread fake news regarding the judges, with fake and distorted photographs being shared to demonstrate a false proximity with leaders of the Congress.