The Congress wants to stall the proceedings in the Ram Temple-Babri Masjid case until next year's Lok Sabha elections and is pressing the judges of the Supreme Court with the threat of impeachment, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday.
Addressing a rally in Alwar in Rajasthan, which votes on December 7, PM Modi said the Congress is working on a dangerous design. "I am saying this seriously. We do not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha. That is why the Congress has started a new game."
In an unprecedented move, seven opposition parties led by the Congress had moved a notice for the impeachment of then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra in April this year, accusing him of "misbehaviour" and "misuse" of authority. It was, however, rejected.
The PM said, "They give Rajya Sabha tickets to prominent Supreme Court advocates, who then attend proceedings in the court all day and then sit in the Rajya Sabha. Now the Congress tells the Supreme Court that Ayodhya case should not be heard because Lok Sabha elections are scheduled in 2019. The judges hearing the Ayodhya case are scared of impeachment in the Rajya Sabha."
Modi said, "If a Supreme Court judge does not prepare the timetable of the case as per their [Congress] political intentions and wants to hear the case of such a serious and sensitive issue then the lawyers who are Rajya Sabha members from Congress start scaring away the judges." Last month, the top court had said that the Ayodhya temple-mosque dispute will be taken up in the first week of January.
Asking the gathering if it is right to drag the judiciary into politics, the Modi said the Congress does not have faith in the Supreme Court, justice and judges. He urged intellectuals to analyse the rival party's gameplan. "We will not let this kaala kaarnama happen in the temple of democracy. I would also like to tell the judges that they should not be afraid and keep following the path of justice."
He also lambasted the opposition party of indulging in caste politics, saying it doesn't have anything concrete to put before the public. "The Congress leaders are always asking about my caste or are ever abusing my mother."