Mamata does U-turn, slams media for distorting anti-judiciary comments

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today criticised a section of the media for distorting her statement on the judiciary in the Assembly last Tuesday, saying she had merely spoken about a value-based judiciary.

"Both types of people are there in the world. There are good people and there are bad people. All political leaders are corrupt, it is not that."

"Similarly, all judges are corrupt, I have never said this. Judges are not corrupt. Lawyers are not corrupt. I had not said this. I had spoken about value-based Judiciary, need for judicial reforms, political reforms, administrative reforms, which were lacking since Independence, and the need for state funding of elections. If that is wrong, then I will repeat it a thousand times," she said while responding to media queries at the state secretariat here today.

Banerjee said that what she had said inside the Assembly had been recorded. "Why I will speak here. I told that there is a need for electoral reforms and state funding to help curb corruption".

Pointing at the media, she said, "Why are you engaged in playing dirty games? It may be that there will be defamation against you if you distort. I have the freedom to express my views".

Defending her earlier remarks on valuable time spent by DMs, principal secretaries of various departments and SPs for appearances before committees and authorities, she said "if they were called for five days a week for 15 hours, then how they would find the time to do the work for the people.

"I spoke about pendency is a tendency. You can make out what I mean. Lakhs of cases are pending in court. People do not get justice. In Bengal, the government has cleared one lakh cases through Lok Adalats in the past one year", she said.

... contd.

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