Click to play videoThe Chief Justice of India told CNN-IBN on Thursday that he cannot force the Madras High Court judge to name the Union Minister who tried to influence him in a marksheet related case. However, Opposition leaders have pointed to DMK's A Raja, saying he is the minister in question. Is the UPA protecting the minister who tried to influence the judge? Congress Spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan and MP from AIADMK V Mythreyan join CNN-IBN on India At 9 to debate the issue.
CNN-IBN: It doesn't really matter who the union minister is but what is your Government doing to find out who the minister in question is?
Jayanthi Natarajan: I want to know what exactly can the Goverment of India do that the Chief Justice of India cannot do? If the High Court judge comes out with a name, I think the next steps will flow from whatever he says. This is really something that should flow from the judiciary and there is nothing really for the Government to do right now except wait for further developments.
CNN-IBN: There are certain avenues available to the Government - writing to the CJI, to the Madras High Court, getting the Law Ministry into action. Surely this is a very serious charge of impropriety by a minister being made by someone no less than a sitting judge of the Madras High Court? These options cannot be lost on the Congress.
Jayanthi Natarajan: If such a charge is true then it is something that should be taken very seriously. But it is really for the judge to reveal who has done this and in the meanwhile, you are conducting a trial by media by floating a name that has been put up by the Opposition with a vested interest. I don't think that is fair to any minister or to the Government.
CNN-IBN: You say it's a trial by media but the name has been attributed to the AIADMK. V Mythreyan what is the proof that you have that the minister in question is A Raja?
V Mythreyan: A sitting judge of a High Court says in an open court that he was influenced by a Union Minister, what can be more true than this? My party General Secretary has given a very detailed statement which is in itself self-explanatory. See two plus two equals four. The accused in the case - Dr Krishnamoorthy - is from Perambalur and A Raja is an MP from Perambalur. Dr Krishnamoorthy owns a building in Perambalur where he does his clinical consultancy. In the same building in the second floor, A Raja has his legal consultancy. And if that is not enough, Dr Krishnamoorthy has a real estate agency in which 45 per cent shares are held by three people who are the nephews and niece of A Raja. Now this accused, Dr Krishnamoorthy, is stuck in a case and a phone call comes to the sitting judge from a Union Minister. You have to draw your own conclusions from this. If you are not able to draw a conclusion, that is where we are stepping in. We say, we request the Prime Minister to get to the bottom of this and find out who is the minister in question.
CNN-IBN: V Mythreyan says there is enough circumstantial evidence. BJP leader Arun Jaitley says why don't you use the Telecom Ministry itself of which this A Raja is incharge to probe into the phone records of the judge to find out who exactly that Union Minister is. What is the Government doing at this point and time?
Jayanthi Natarajan: Mr Mythreyan and Mr Jaitley are not exactly disinterested spectators. Mr Mythreyan can talk about the geography of Perambalur and Ms Jayalalithaa is not a disinterested spectator either. She has been flinging allegations at everyone in the Government because it suits her to do it. I would not treat this as gospel truth. The fact of the matter is that the learned judge has made an allegation. All this speculation and conjecture is being done by Opposition parties who are not being able to face their defeat in the elections. Let the judge reveal who the person is.
CNN-IBN: The Congress has returned with such huge numbers in this election. What does this do for the Prime Minister's clean image if he cannot use his prerogative against a minister who has been charged to be tainted?
Jayanthi Natarajan: You are now encroaching in the realm of the judiciary. The Prime Minister is the Prime Minister of the country and he heads the Cabinet, but when you yourself asked the Chief Justice of India, he himself said that he could not force the judge to reveal a name. Do you expect the Prime Minister to step into an area where the Chief Justice of India will not go? What kind of separation of powers and governance and democracy do you expect will follow? Are we going to fall into a trap that has been laid down by Mr Arun Jaitley and Mr Mythreyan in their enlightened political interest and then totally destroy separation of powers?
CNN-IBN: What is the necessity to make this such a big political plank against one particular person?
V Mythreyan: We wish the judge had named the minister but for various reasons, he has not. For that reason you cannot allow the truth to be buried. A Union Minister has been named and now it is the responsibility of the Union Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister to find out who that minister is.
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