Kolkata, Oct 30, 2022, IANS

Kolkata, Oct 30 (IANS): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday was all praise for the current Chief Justice of India, U.U. Lalit, and said that he has been able to restore the public confidence in the country's judicial system as evident during the last two months.

"I do not know whether this is the right platform to congratulate the current Chief Justice of India, U.U. Lait. But I must say that the public confidence in the country's judicial system has been restored a lot during the last two months. The court is like a religious place. People knock on the legal doors hoping for justice. So, it is important that the confidence of the people on the judicial system prevails," the chief minister said, while addressing the 14th convocation of the West Bengal National University of Judicial Sciences here on Sunday afternoon.

Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit, Calcutta High Court's Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava and the Chief Justice of Bangladesh Hasan Foez Siddique were present on the occasion.

Her speech had a latent apprehension about the threats faced by the federal system of democracy in India. "Social prestige is everything for us. We lose everything if we lose our social prestige. So, I will request all associated with the judicial system to ensure the federal system of democracy prevails," said the chief minister.

Without making direct reference to the Union government and BJP, the chief minister said that unnecessary harassment of the people has increased manifold these days. "All the democratic powers are being killed by a section of people. If this goes on then it might move towards a presidential form of government. Where will democracy prevail then? So, please protect democracy, and that is my only request," the chief minister said.

Speaking on the occasion, Mamata Banerjee also launched a scathing attack against the media and claimed that it is often running a parallel trial. "This cannot happen. The media cannot dictate the judicial system," she added.