A “vested interest group” is pressuring the Indian judiciary and defaming Indian judicial processes because of its political agenda, around 600 top Indian lawyers have said in a letter to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud.
The letter, which surfaced on Thursday, said that the “pressure tactics” of the interest group were most obvious in cases relating to political figures accused of corruption.
"These tactics are damaging to our courts and threaten our democratic fabric," stated the letter.
The communication to India's Supreme Court surfaced amid the trial of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last week for allegedly receiving kickbacks from private companies during the now scrapped Delhi Excise Police 2021-22.
Significantly, the letter stated the activities of the group have intensified ahead of the election.
"The timings of their modus operandi also merits closer scrutiny-they do it at very strategic timings, when the nation is all set to head into the election," it said.
It said that the "heated interest" group was involved in creating "false narratives of a supposed better past" and "golden period" of courts.
The lawyers said that the activities of the group implied that "courts in the past were easier to influence", which in turn risked undermining public confidence in the judiciary.
"They have stooped to the level of comparing our courts to those countries where there is no rule of law and accusing our judicial institutions of unfair practises. These aren’t just criticisms, they are direct attacks meant to damage the public’s trust in our judiciary and threaten the application of our laws," read the letter.
The lawyers reckoned that there was a clear “my way or the highway approach” at play, wherein court decisions in favour of the said group were hailed but any decision going against their interest were being "trashed, smeared and disregarded".
The lawyers flagged particular concerns about the group's "political flip-flopping" and the use of "underhand tactics and false information".
"Some elements are trying to influence who the judges are in their cases and spread lies on social media on the judges to decide in a particular way. These strike at the heart of our legal principles," the letter stated.
Further, it concluded by urging the Supreme Court to "stand strong and take steps to protect our courts from these attacks".