On Monday, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju opened fire on opposition party members who claimed that the Narendra Modi administration was attempting to dominate the courts.

The Law Minister emphasised that the Modi government will uphold the Constitution and protect the independence of the judiciary.

"We cannot even think about this. When Prime Minister Modi says he country will run the country by the Constitution, then it has to be so and there are no two ways about it," he said.

Rijiju stated that despite attempts by some political parties to suggest that the Central government is undermining court independence, numerous initiatives have been taken by the government to strengthen the judiciary.

"You hear that there is friction between executive and judiciary and that the government is trying to take the judiciary under its grab. Some political parties make such statements and at times news channels do it to keep masala in the news. But PM Modi has always said that the Constitution is the most sacred book and the country will run by the Constitution," Rijiju said.

He continued by saying that under the current system, the word "committed judges" refers to judges who are dedicated to the country rather than judges who are dedicated to the government.

"Years ago it was being said that judges seniority was being superseded and there was a debate on committed judiciary and that judges should work for executive whims. But for this government, judges should be committed to the country and not the executive. For some, committed judiciary means being committed to their officers but for us being 'committed' means to the nation," Rijiju underlined.

The Law Minister addressed the 16th National Conference of the Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad on the topic "New Challenges and Opportunities before the Indian Judiciary". 
In a recent dispute between the executive and the judiciary, the Minister of Justice stated that judges should consider themselves accountable to the public at some point.

"In a conference, I had told the judges that after every 5 years we (law makers) have to go before the public and public examines our work. But a judge is not chosen by anyone and is here because of their system. So whatever a judge does is not open to public voting but indeed there is public scrutiny. We are working for the public and those who are working in judiciary must also think that in some way or other they are also answerable to the public," said Rijiju.