NEW DELHI: In his first comments on the judicial crisis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the government and political parties must stay out of it while expressing confidence that the judiciary will sit together to find a solution to its problems.
He also said the Indian judiciary has a bright history and is full of very capable people.
"Our country's judiciary has a very bright past, they are very capable people. They will sit together and find a solution to their problems. I have faith in our justice system, they will definitely figure out a solution," he said during a lengthy interview to Times Now, according to the transcript provided by the television news channel.
Asked about the crisis in the Supreme Court after its four seniormost judges came out to openly criticise allocation of sensitive cases by the chief justice, creating an unprecedented situation in the higher judiciary, Modi said, "I think I should stay away from this debate. The government must also stay away. The political parties must also keep out of it." To a question about opposition parties' alleged attempts to pull "high-profile" BJP leaders into the crisis the way they went after him when he was Gujarat chief minister, the prime minister said they had made several attempts to finish him politically.
"The path that they are on is what has helped me reach here," he said, taking a dig at the opposition parties.
On January 12, four top judges of the Supreme Court -- justices Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph-- addressed an extraordinary press conference where they said that "all is not well" with the Supreme Court and launched a sharp attack on Chief Justice Dipak Misra for "ignoring the concerns voiced by them".