JAIPUR: Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot questioned the state of jurisprudence in the country on Wednesday, alleging that corruption had seeped so deep into the judicial system that “many lawyers write judgments and take them to courts, and the same judgments are delivered, be it the lower or upper judiciary”.
The controversial remark by Gehlot on the sidelines of a private event in Jaipur came after he urged the people to think about where their country was headed. “We have come to such a stage that no institution is now free and fair,” the chief minister said.
Gehlot said the chief minister of a state recommending the appointment of high court judges wasn’t new, but alleged this was now translating into interference in court rulings.
“We have seen that era, too. We were also MPs and Union ministers. There were many such recommendations. We must have helped appoint many high court judges, and this would have been because there was value in those decisions,” he said. “But once they became judges, I wouldn’t talk to those people for the rest of my life. I have my own approach.”
Gehlot said he would never interfere in the work of independent institutions like the judiciary, Rajasthan Public Service Commission and Anti-Corruption Bureau.