The BJP today launched a fierce attack on the Congress after the Supreme Court rejected petitions seeking probe into Judge B H Loya's death, and alleged the "invisible hand" behind the pleas was of Rahul Gandhi as part of "a conspiracy to finish the political career" of the ruling party chief Amit Shah.
Soon after the Supreme Court passed its order rejecting a batch of petitions in the Loya case, a number of senior BJP leaders blasted the Congress and Gandhi and sought his apology for what they described as attempt to use the judiciary for a political battle aimed at "character assassination" of Shah.
The apex court said the judge died of natural causes while rejecting petitions that cast a cloud over reasons of his demise and sought an independent probe. Before his death in December 2014, Loya was hearing the Sohrabuddin encounter case in which Shah was an accused. The BJP president was discharged later.
Addressing a press conference after the SC verdict, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Congress and its chief Rahul Gandhi conspired to target BJP President Amit Shah as it believes that only one family had a right to rule the country.
"It was a conspiracy by the Congress and its chief Gandhi to finish the political career of BJP President Amit Shah, as part of which wrong accusations were made and an over 100-strong delegation was taken to the President," Prasad said.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh took to Twitter to say that the judiciary has sent a message that it cannot be misled by allegations based on political vendetta and claimed that several attempts have been made to target top BJP leaders through 'fake news'.
"The Supreme Court has also cautioned against the misuse of courts in political tug of war," Singh tweeted.
While Singh did not specifically name Congress or its chief, Prasad was unsparing in his attack on Gandhi and wondered if he wanted to enhance his party's political standing by seeking recourse to the corridors of courts by making them "a political battleground with politically-vested litigations".
Earlier in the day, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told reporters that the public interest litigations (PILs) seeking a probe into Loya's death were like "political interest litigations".
Alleging that the "invisible hand" behind these petitions was of Gandhi and the Congress, Patra said the Congress chief should be "ashamed" for what he described as a conspiracy to target Shah, the Indian judiciary and the country's democracy.
"The Congress engages in all sorts of conspiracies after its ruling family loses power," Patra alleged and added that the attempt to use judiciary for political purposes was a "new low" in Indian politics.
The BJP leader further alleged that the pleas were filed to settle political scores as Congress was incapable of taking on Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the electoral field.
The Union Minister said Gandhi should apologise as he had led a delegation of opposition MPs to the President and his party had held press conferences seeking a probe into the special CBI judge's death.
Loya had died of cardiac arrest, according to police investigation reports, in Nagpur on December 1, 2014 when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague's daughter.
The issue of Loya's death came in spotlight in November last year after some media reports quoting his sister fuelled suspicion about circumstances surrounding it and its link to the Sohrabuddin case.
Quoting from the apex court's order, Prasad said the verdict answers all questions raised by the Congress as well as by the petitioners who acted as a "front" or were in close cooperation with the main opposition party.
He said the the plea was not in public interest but in the interest of the Congress and to damage the BJP and its chief.
Prasad said the party had kept quiet so far on the issue was it "wanted the law to take its own course".
"The Congress has been unmasked today," he said.
To a query about questions raised by the Congress following the order, he said some people accept the court's verdict only when it suits them but the decision of the Supreme Court is final.
Patra said it is a new low in the Indian politics as the Congress tried to politicise the judiciary.
Joining the attack on the Congress, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the party failed to destroy the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Shah, when it was in power at the Centre.
"Now in opposition, Congress was conspiring to defame the BJP's top leadership," he said.
"Today's judgement has demolished the Congress' attempts of hatching criminal conspiracy to destroy and defame our top leadership. The Congress, its president Shri Rahul Gandhi and Smt Sonia Gandhi should apologise for this sin," Naqvi told reporters.
In its order, the Supreme Court said the petitions seeking a probe into Judge Loya's death were a serious attempt to scandalise and obstruct the course of justice.
The top court dubbed the PILs into the death of judge Loya as frivolous and motivated litigations to settle political scores and rivalry were behind the "facade of the PIL" to malign the dignity of judicial officers and Bombay High Court judges.
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