New Delhi, May 2: BJP Lok Sabha member Udit Raj today accused the judiciary of "extra-constitutional" activism and said it should stop blaming the government for the huge backlog of cases, brushing aside suggestions from the Speaker to not stretch the issue.
The Dalit leader said he was "not passing any aspersions on the judiciary" but if there was a backlog it wasn't the government's fault because the judiciary itself was responsible for appointing judges.
"Extra-constitutional judicial activism has been harming the poor a lot. Schemes and projects for the poor have been held up.... They (the judiciary) have taken the power of the administration and they have taken our (the legislature's) power too. Despite this they blame the government for the backlog of cases. What is the government's fault in this...?" the MP from Delhi said.
Supreme Court Chief Justice T.S. Thakur had recently blamed the central government for shortage of judges in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Raj appeared to be alluding to that April 24 speech, when the Chief Justice had cited figures to say that the government had in 1987 promised to raise the judges' strength in the country to 40,357, but three decades on the number stood at 7,675. The speech came at a time the judicial system is groaning under a backlog of 3 crore cases.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan asked Raj to only refer to the matter that had been raised - reservation in promotions - and not say anything against any court.
"I want to tell you one thing.... Some other court has also passed a similar judgment. So, it would be better if we only refer to the case and not speak too much," the Speaker said before granting Raj permission to speak during Zero Hour.
The BJP MP agreed but went ahead with his attack on the judiciary.
Raj wanted to speak against a recent Madhya Pradesh High Court judgment that had set aside reservation in promotions for Dalit and tribal state government employees since 2002. The MP demanded that the verdict be rolled back.
He then went on to criticise the judiciary for alleged overreach, saying the Supreme Court had validated an amendment the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had brought in supporting reservation in promotions.
"Don't stretch the issue...," the Speaker told Raj.
"I'm not saying anything against the judiciary. I'm speaking over the rights of the Dalits and the tribals. I'm not passing any aspersions on the judiciary," Raj said before attacking the judiciary again.
"It has been seen that whenever there is something in favour of reservation, the court doesn't mention it but they cite negative points.... The judiciary became independent in 1993 when the collegium system to appoint judges started. If there is a backlog in the judiciary, then the government is not responsible for it. They are themselves responsible for it...," Raj said.
Under the collegium system, judges appoint judges to higher courts. The Centre had last year tried to replace the system with a commission that would have had a role for the Union law minister, but the Supreme Court struck it down.
Some other treasury bench members associated themselves with the issue Raj had raised, supporting him. Speaker Mahajan intervened and asked Raj to speak only on reservation. But the MP pressed ahead before accusing the judiciary of "extra-constitutional judicial activism".
Congress MP Kanti Lal Bhuria also raised the issue but accused the BJP government of being apathetic towards Dalits and tribal people.
