Commenting on 500 prominent lawyers’ letter to Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on attempts to undermine the judiciary’s integrity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the Congress party five decades ago called for a “committed judiciary”.

In a post on X, the prime minister said, “To browbeat and bully others is vintage Congress culture. 5 decades ago itself they had called for a “committed judiciary” — they shamelessly want commitment from others for their selfish interests but desist from any commitment towards the nation. No wonder 140 crore Indians are rejecting them.”

Prominent lawyers, including Mr Harish Salve and Bar Council of India chairman Manan Kumar Mishra, wrote a letter to the chief justice of India expressing concern over alleged attempts to undermine the judiciary’s integrity.

The letter stated that “as people who work to uphold the law, we think it’s time to stand up for our courts. We need to come together and speak out against the underhanded attacks, making sure our courts stay as pillars of our democracy, untouched by these calculated attacks.”

The letter read: “We, the undersigned, are a group of lawyers who are writing to you expressing our deepest concern on the manner in which a vested interest group is trying to pressure the judiciary, influence judicial process and defame our courts on the basis of frivolous logic and stale political agendas.

“Their antics are vitiating the atmosphere of trust and harmony, which characterizes the functioning of the judiciary. Their tactics are most obvious in political cases, particularly those involving political figures accused of corruption. These tactics are damaging to our courts and threaten our democratic fabric.”

It said, “This heated interest group operates in various ways. They create false narratives of a supposed better past and golden period of the courts, contrasting it with the happenings in the present. These are nothing but intentional statements, made to sway court decisions and to embarrass the courts for certain political gains.”

“It’s troubling to see some lawyers defend politicians by the day and then try to influence judges through the media at night. Implying that the courts in the past were easier to influence shakes the public’s trust in them,” the letter said.

“They have also concocted an entire theory of bench fixing – which is not just disrespectful and contemptuous – it’s an attack on the honour and dignity of our courts. At times, it also leads to slanderous attacks and insinuations on respective judges,” the lawyers said.

“They have also stooped to the level of comparing our courts to those countries where there is no rule of law and accusing our judicial institutions with unfair practices. These aren’t just criticisms, they are direct attacks meant to damage the public’s trust in our judiciary and threaten the fair application of our laws,” the letter said.

“There is a clear my way or the highway approach at work – any decision they agree with is hailed but any decision they disagree with is trashed, smeared and disregarded. This cherry picking has been visible in very recent judgments too,” the letter said.

“We are equally worried about: 1 – Political Flip Flopping: It is strange to see politicians accuse someone of corruption and then defend them in court. If the court’s decision doesn’t go their way, they quickly criticize the courts inside the court as well as through media. This two-faced behavior is harmful to the respect a common man should have for our legal system,”

“2 – Underhand Tactics and False Information – Some elements are trying to influence who the judges are in their cases and spread lies on social media to put pressure on the judges to decide in a particular way. This threatens the fairness of our courts and strikes at the heart of our legal principles,”

“The timing of their modus operandi also merits closer scrutiny – they do it at very strategic timings, when the nation is all set to head into elections. We are reminded of similar antics 2018-19 when they took to their hit and run activities, including fabricating wrong narratives,”

“These efforts to belittle and manipulate the courts for personal and political reasons cannot be allowed under any circumstances. We request the Supreme Court to stand strong and take steps to protect our courts from these attacks,”

“Staying silent and doing nothing could accidentally give more power to those who mean to do harm. This is not the time to maintain dignified silence as such efforts are happening since few years and too frequently,” the letter said.

The lawyers said they hoped the chief justice and the judges of the Supreme Court would guide them “through these issues and keep our courts strong.” The lawyers’ letter said, “We are all in support of the judiciary, ready to do what’s needed to keep the respect and honesty in our legal system”.