Mamata Banerjee on Sunday praised Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit’s brief tenure and urged the judiciary to save people from injustice and protect the federal structure of the Constitution, before expressing fear over the indications of the country being taken towards a presidential form of government, and underscoring the importance of the judiciary’s freedom from media trials.

At the convocation of the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences in the presence of Chief Justice Lalit, Chief Justice of Bangladesh Hasan Foez Siddique and Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava of Calcutta High Court, the Bengal chief minister said law should always remain of the people, by the people, and for the people, asserting that when people run out of hope from everywhere else, they turn to the judiciary for justice.

“We have the highest regards for the judiciary, it is a place of worship for us…. Nowadays, I must congratulate… I don’t know whether I can use this platform or not, but I must congratulate our present Chief Justice Lalitji. He got only two months…. But in these two months, we have seen what the judiciary is. People have their faith restored,” said Mamata.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee inteacts with CJI UU Lalit Sourced by The Telegraph

Chief Justice of India Lalit ascended to the post as its 49th occupant on August 27. He will be succeeded by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud on November 9.

“I am not saying the people had lost their faith in the judiciary. But nowadays, what has been going on, the situation… from worst to worst,” added the Trinamul chief, whose government and party have been embroiled in numerous court cases in recent years, with several adverse decisions from Calcutta High Court this year.

Over the past couple of months, there have been some rulings from the Supreme Court deemed favourable by the state’s ruling dispensation. “I believe that the judiciary must save the people from disasters. The judiciary must save the people from injustice. The judiciary must hear the cry of the people… now the people are crying behind closed doors.”

She came down on the media and its alleged role in influencing the judiciary, lambasting the so-called fourth pillar of democracy over the conduct of media trials.

“I want to tell you, Sir (CJI Lalit), these times… there are so many things going on. Before giving the verdict, I am sorry to say… if you think I am wrong, I apologise first. Before giving the verdict, media trial is going on, and the media is guiding the judiciary. It cannot be, it cannot be, sir,” said Mamata.

“The judiciary is the highest, media cannot control the judiciary. They give their opinion without…. They can accuse, abuse anybody,” she added, apparently referring to intense criticism in recent months from many sections of the media over alleged irregularities and corruption in various “scams” – pertaining to recruitment of teachers, coal pilferage, and cattle-rustling -- that some in the Trinamul dispensation have been accused of being involved in. Many of the allegations are being examined by the judiciary.

The chief minister then apparently spoke out against potential defamation by the media trials and their verdicts, before actual verdicts from the judiciary.

“Sir, our only prestige is our respect, our izzat (honour). Agar hamara izzat loot liya, toh sab loot liya (If I am robbed of my honour, I stand robbed of everything)…. If my honour is snatched from me once, that honour, that respect cannot be restored,” said Mamata.

Mamata also brought up the subject of India’s federal structure allegedly being endangered in the saffron regime, asking the judiciary to ensure that is not allowed to happen. She did so without naming the BJP or the Union government it leads.

“I would request all those in the judiciary, its current and future leaders, please see that the federal structure remains,” she said.

“Unnecessarily, the harassment of the people is too much nowadays. All the democratic power is being seized by one section of people. If it is going, then the country might be going on towards a presidential form, where is the democracy? Please save democracy, it is my only request,” added Mamata.

The Opposition lashed out at her over the remarks.

“I have tried and failed to understand what she means by such things. The judiciary is trying to uphold the rule of law by acting against the corruption carried out in her rule…. She cannot claim she is being slighted, because the judiciary is doing what it should,” said CPM Rajya Sabha member Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, a senior advocate at Calcutta High Court.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Congress’s leader in the Lok Sabha, accused Mamata of trying indirectly to pressurise the judiciary.

BJP state unit chief Sukanta Majumdar accused Mamata of not knowing what democracy is.

“The people of Bengal have seen over these 11 years of her rule how every democratic process and system has been hijacked here,” claimed Majumdar.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee at a Chhath Puja in Calcutta on Sunday Sourced by The Telegraph

Trinamul MP Shatrughan Sinha at Chhath Puja in his Asansol Lok Sabha constituency on Sunday. Sinha said it felt great to be a part of Chhath Puja in Asansol after his native place Patna. Picture by Santosh Kumar Mandal