Modi government will run country by Constitution; no question of taking over judiciary: Law Minister Kiren Rijiju

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday trained guns on opposition party members who alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi government is trying to take control of the judiciary..The Law Minister emphasised that Modi government will run the country by the Constitution and the independence of judiciary will not be compromised."We cannot even think about this. When Prime Minister Modi says he country will run the country by the Constitution, then it has to be so and there are no two ways about it," he said.In this regard, Rijiju said that the government has taken many steps to strengthen the judiciary though some political parties are trying to portray that the Central government is compromising the independence of courts. "You hear that there is friction between executive and judiciary and that the government is trying to take the judiciary under its grab. Some political parties make such statements and at times news channels do it to keep masala in the news. But PM Modi has always said that the Constitution is the most sacred book and the country will run by the Constitution," Rijiju said.He further stated that for the present dispensation, the term 'committed judges' means judges who are committed to the nation and does not imply judges who are committed to the executive. "Years ago it was being said that judges seniority was being superseded and there was a debate on committed judiciary and that judges should work for executive whims. But for this government, judges should be committed to the country and not the executive. For some, committed judiciary means being committed to their officers but for us being 'committed' means to the nation," Rijiju underlined..The Law Minister was speaking at the 16th National Conference of Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad on the topic: "New challenges and opportunities in front of the Indian judicial system"..On the recent executive-judiciary collegium tussle, the Law Minister stated that judges should think that they are also at some point, responsible to the public."In a conference, I had told the judges that after every 5 years we (law makers) have to go before the public and public examines our work. But a judge is not chosen by anyone and is here because of their system. So whatever a judge does is not open to public voting but indeed there is public scrutiny. We are working for the public and those who are working in judiciary must also think that in some way or other they are also answerable to the public," said Rijiju..Rijiju added that the executive will not breach its limits and if the judiciary also remains within the constitutional limits, then news media will not get masala regarding friction between executive and judiciary."But if you breach, then you give them (media) the fodder. So when someone says we are trying to take judiciary under our control, then those who said that should look within themselves. Under PM Modi we will not even accidentally do such a thing," the Law Minister reiterated.