Judges’ Phone-Tapping Allegation: Why It Is Necessary To Counter Kejriwal Strongly

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed he was told by two judges that the phones of all judges in the country, from the Supreme Court and High Courts down to the district courts, are tapped.

Kejriwal made this startling statement during the fiftieth anniversary celebrations of the Delhi High Court in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India T S Thakur and other senior judges and ministers on Monday (31 October). Of course, he did not substantiate his remarks.

Kejriwal further said at the ceremony that there were rumours that vacancies in the judiciary were not being filled up because preferred candidates (of the ruling party at the centre) were not being appointed as judges. He said:

These remarks are very serious. And Kejriwal was being extremely mischievous in making them. That is why it is necessary to give the lie to Kejriwal’s false allegations. A probe should be launched immediately into the remarks and Kejriwal ought to be questioned for information he has on the phone tappings.

Kejriwal should be asked to reveal the identities of the two judges (the names need not be made public at all), and then those two judges (if they exist at all) should be asked if they made such remarks and if they did, on what basis they did so. Kejriwal should also be asked about the sources of the “rumours” he referred to and if these rumours were picked up from the marketplace.

Such a probe – and the Union government could even ask the Supreme Court to monitor it in order to remove all doubts that may be raised from vested quarters about its fairness – would definitely nail Kejriwal’s lies. It is irresponsible on the part of a functionary like a chief minister to give credence to rumours and repeat them at an event like the anniversary of the Delhi HC in the presence of the prime minister, the CJI and others.

Kejriwal, as is his wont, was aiming to score some cheap brownie points, and he succeeded fairly in doing so. He is no friend of the judiciary or an upholder of the rule of law, as his and the Aam Aadmi Party’s repeated attempts to browbeat and defy the judiciary and take the law into their hands have proved.

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, speaking after Kejriwal at the event, did dismiss all that which the Delhi chief minister had said, but he didn’t do so forcefully enough and did not take the proverbial bull by its horns. Prasad was being diffident when he said he didn't want to take issue with Kejriwal.

But that is exactly what should have been done. It was important to call Kejriwal’s bluff and nail his lies. He ought to have been challenged, in front of the CJI and other judges of the Supreme Court and the Delhi HC, as well as the prime minister, to prove his charges. It should have been made clear to him that a responsible person doesn't make serious allegations based on mere hearsay and rumours.

Kejriwal and many politicians and self- or media-anointed civil society leaders have made a habit of making baseless remarks and passing off market gossip as the gospel truth in their quest to heap scorn or discredit their rivals, especially the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Union government should take Kejriwal on his remarks and set up a probe into it so as to stop this mischief once and for all.