BJP condemns Cong for politicising SC's 'internal matter'

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday lashed out at the Congress party for playing politics over the crisis within the Supreme Court.

While addressing the media here, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said, "This is an internal matter of the Supreme Court; Attorney General (AG) has given a statement. No politics should be played".

"Surprised and pained that Congress, which has been rejected a number of times by the people in the elections, is trying to gain political mileage. It has exposed itself by politicising the internal issues of the judiciary", he said.

Patra's statement comes after Congress President Rahul Gandhi described the concerns expressed by four Supreme Court judges over the institution's functioning as extremely important and also sought an investigation into the death of judge BH Loya by the highest level of the apex court.

Earlier in the day, Justices Madan B. Lokur, Kurien Joseph, Ranjan Gogoi and Jasti Chelameswar, while addressing the media, appealed to the nation to save their institution if they wanted democracy in the country to survive.

Speaking on behalf of the four judges, Justice Chelameswar lamented over the corrosion and compromise taking place within the institution of the judiciary and especially within the portals of the Supreme Court.

The judges said that they have discharged a debt to the nation by issuing an appeal to the nation to save the institution.

They had written a letter to the Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra, expressing their concerns.

They also raised an issue over Judge B.H. Loya's death. The Supreme Court on Friday sought the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Judge's postmortem report from the Maharashtra government asserting that the "matter is very serious."

The country's top court has posted the next hearing on the issue for Monday, 15 January.