PM attacks Congress over Ram temple, says it asked SC to delay Ayodhya case hearing

ALWAR: At a time when saffron outfits have gathered in Ayodhya to demand the construction of a Ram temple at a disputed land, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the Congress had asked the Supreme Court to delay hearing of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case because of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The prime minister also accused the Congress of using the threat of impeachment to "scare" judges. Accusing the Congress of dragging the judiciary into politics, Modi, in a veiled attack at its leader Kapil Sibal, said: "When the Ayodhya case was being heard, a Congress leader, who is a Rajya Sabha member, said don’t hear the case till 2019 as the country will go to polls next year. Is it fair to drag the country's judiciary into politics like this." He alleged that if a Supreme Court judge does not work as per their "politics" then Congress MPs start "scaring" them in the name of impeachment. "This is a dangerous game. Congress has no faith in the judiciary. They are working to scare judiciary on the grounds of their numbers in the Rajya Sabha but I we will not let this 'kala karnama' happen in the temple of democracy," he said. "I would also like to tell judges that do not be afraid and keep going on the path of justice," Modi said. In December 2017, while arguing in the Supreme Court, Sibal pleaded before the Supreme Court to defer the hearing in the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi case till July 2019 on the grounds that the BJP may try to use it as a poll plank and politicise the issue. However, amid heated arguments between the lawyers of the two sides, the court rejected the plea and set February 8, 2018 as the next date of hearing.