Randeep Singh Surjewala accused Mr Prasad of having "scant regard for the Constitution and law". (File)
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Thursday launched an attack on Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, terming him the "most lawless minister the country has ever seen".
Randeep Singh Surjewala accused Mr Prasad of having "scant regard for the Constitution and law".
"He is the most lawless minister the country has ever seen. He is hell-bent at destroying the judiciary. He has scant regard for the Constitution and law. He is a prodigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah," the Congress leader said at a press conference in New Delhi.
"BJP feared that the conspiracy of the riots will get exposed and this is the reason why Justice Muralidhar has been transferred," Mr Surjewala said, adding that "the transfer is an attempt to save the BJP leaders against whom Murlidhar had made strong observations".
Mr Surjewala made the remarks after Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad tweeted that Justice Muralidhar's transfer came following the recommendation of the Supreme Court collegium. "The well-settled process has been followed".
Continuing his attack on the opposition party, Mr Prasad said the people of India have rejected the Congress and "hence it is hell-bent on destroying the very institutions India cherishes by constantly attacking them".
On the other hand, Mr Surjewala accused the BJP of pressurising judiciary and said that this is not the first time that such a case of transfer of judge came to light.
"It is not the first case of BJP pressurising judiciary or being vengeful. The appointment of Gopal Subramaniam, famous lawyer of the Supreme Court who was a lawyer against Modi-Shah in Gujarat riots, was forcibly stopped and orders of the Supreme Court Collegium ignored," he said.
"Justice Geeta Mittal, who gave an uneasy judgment against the government about shell companies, was also transferred in a similar manner. It is clear that if judges curb government''s policies as per the constitution, then the Modi government will work with a sense of revenge," Mr Surjewala added.
He said that the BJP is "drunk" on their electoral victory in the last year's Lok Sabha elections.
"They should remember that the citizens of the country have chosen them to serve the country and run the government, not to intimidate, threaten and enslave the people," Mr Surjewala said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)