Senior Congress leader Debabrata Saikia Sunday blamed the state government's "sycophancy" for the "unfortunate" incident during CJI Ranjan Gogoi's visit to the Kamakhya temple.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Assam assembly said the incident had exposed the "desperate attempt" by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime to "please" their "political masters".
The Chief Justice of India (CJI) and his wife had visited the temple on Wednesday when devotees, including VVIPs such as BJP president Amit Shah, were also there to offer prayers.
The CJI had expressed his displeasure to Kamrup (Metro) district Deputy Commissioner Virender Mittal over the "crowd management" at the temple.
Following this, the BJP led Assam government Saturday suspended Guwahati (west) Deputy Commissioner of Police Bhanwar Lal Meena for not ensuring adequate security to the Supreme Court judge.
It has "once again exposed the desperate attempt by the state government to please political personalities belonging to the ruling dispensation by using government machinery," Saikia said in a statement here.
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These "misplaced priorities" have resulted in a police officer being made the scapegoat, he added.
Taking a cue from the state government, the officers were busy "bending over backwards to please their political masters at the Centre" and did not depute a commissioner-level officer to look after the CJI's visit as per norms, Saikia claimed.
"The CJI was kept waiting outside the temple while political personalities were being entertained inside," the Opposition leader asserted.
In terms of protocol, the CJI has precedence over any political personality, he said, adding that the security and protocol lapse highlighted the breakdown of Assam's administrative machinery.
He demanded that an enquiry by a sitting or retired high court judge be conducted to "fix responsibility for the arbitrary way of assigning protocol duties".
The senior Congress leader also demanded that the suspended officer be reinstated immediately.