Moily accuses government of 'confrontation' with judiciary

Says the NDA government is working 'unilaterally' and 'arbitrarily'

Former union law minister M Veerappa Moily on Wednesday accused the NDA government of being in "confrontation" with the judiciary.

Reacting to the government's recent opposition to former solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam's appointment as a Supreme Court judge, Moily said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government was working "unilaterally" and "arbitrarily".

"There was no consultation at all. The decision was taken unilaterally and arbitrarily without even an informal consultation with the chief justice of India," Moily told the media here.

He said: "It's a confrontation between the government and the judiciary with no precedence at all."

The government earlier segregated the name of Subramaniam from the panel of four names recommended by the collegium for appointment as apex court judges.

Subramaniam withdrew his candidature from the judge's post June 25 following media reports which said the NDA government was objecting to his appointment as a Supreme Court judge, because of his "links" with corporate lobbyist Nira Radia and a "negative" report by the Central Bureau of Investigation.