Jaipur: During the two-day All India Legal Services Meet in Jaipur, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday painted a bleak picture of the current situation of bureaucracy in the country. Speaking at the event organised by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Gehlot noted that the question of how would things be after their retirement should not prevail in the minds of judges.
"We have to think about how we would like to lead our lives. I have become Chief Minister, among others, some have become MLAs, and others have turned MPs. When you become a judge, how proud it must feel to know that you're serving the country. We must strive to do well in life, and do something for the country. If we continuously think about what we would do after retirement, then how would things run?" Gehlot said.
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Further taking potshots at the judiciary and former judges, the CM brought up former CJI Ranjan Gogoi. "Four Supreme Court judges had said 'democracy is in danger'. We thought a great deal about it. One of them, Mr. Gogoi, became the CJI. But, even after that, the same system as before kept going on. Whether Gogoi was right then or right now, this topic was brought up by me before the President himself. Later, he (Gogoi) became a Member of the Parliament. These are a few things that we ourselves will have to think about," he added.
The veteran Congress leader also addressed the recent fallout over observations from Supreme Court judges J B Pardiwala and Justice Surya Kant. On July 1, the duo criticised former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her comments on Prophet Mohammad. "Recently Justice Pardiwala and Justice Surya Kant had said something. It is our duty to respect the judiciary. 116 people were made to stand (against the judges), including former high court and Supreme Court judges, bureaucracy, and officers. Don't know who they were? How it was managed and who managed it and an issue was created in the country," the Chief Minister said. (With Agency inputs)
