Unfazed by the admission of a plea against her in the high court, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday appeared to be defending her controversial statement about judiciary. She accused the media of distorting and misinterpreting her comments.
“My speech in the Assembly is recorded, you can take a copy of that. I have talked about electoral reforms, judicial reforms and administrative reforms. If talking about our country’s drawbacks is a crime, I am ready to commit it a thousand times,” a defiant Ms Banerjee said.
She claimed that in her speech at the Assembly on Tuesday she had hoped that the voice of justice would not weep silently in the wilderness. She made it clear that whatever order the court gave she would accept it.
She took pains to explain that there were both good and bad people in all spheres of society.
“Just as all political leaders are corrupt is not a fact. Similarly, I have never said all judges are corrupt. I have not said that all judges and all lawyers are corrupt. 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,” she elaborated.
Ms Banerjee said that if need be she would fight her own case in the court.
“Do not forget that I am also a lawyer, I can plead for the countrymen and I can also plead for myself,” she added.