A video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Chief Justice DY Chandrachud’s home to participate in the worship of the Hindu deity Ganesha on Wednesday led to several lawyers and Opposition leaders expressing concern about the independence of the judiciary.

On Wednesday evening, ANI published a video of Chandrachud and his wife Kalpana Das welcoming Modi into their Delhi home. The prime minister then took part in an aarti with the chief justice and his wife.

Several lawyers and Opposition leaders said this raised questions about the independence of the judiciary from the political executive.

Former Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising alleged that Chandrachud had “compromised the separation of powers” between the executive and judiciary.

“Lost all confidence in the independence of the Chief Justice of India,” Jaising said. “The Supreme Court Bar Association must condemn this publicly displayed compromise of independence of the CJI from the Executive.”

Advocate Prashant Bhushan alleged that Chandrachud had violated the Code of Conduct for Judges, which says that they should “practice a degree of aloofness” consistent with the dignity of their office.

Bhushan told PTI that it was “totally inappropriate” for Modi to visit the chief justice’s home for a private religious event. He added that it was also wrong on the part of the prime minister and the chief justice to “display publicly a particular religious function” since the Supreme Court is entrusted with upholding the secular values enshrined in the Constitution.

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Sanjay Raut said that a custodian of the Constitution meeting politicians in this manner could “create doubts” in people’s minds, ANI reported.

Raut questioned whether Chandrachud would be able to give “justice” to the Uddhav Sena after the visuals of Modi visiting his home emerged. He demanded that the chief justice recuse himself from a case in which the Uddhav Sena has challenged the Election Commission’s ruling declaring its rival faction, headed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, as the legitimate Shiv Sena party.

In a similar vein, Uddhav Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi asked if the chief justice would be “slightly freer” to adjudicate the case “after the festivities are over”.

‘Reckless commentary’, say NDA members

Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, on the other hand, contended that it was wrong to politicise Modi’s visit and pointed to instances where former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had attended events along with the chief justice at the time.

Rajya Sabha MP and Shinde Sena member Milind Deora said it was unfortunate to see the “reckless commentary” on the prime minister’s visit. “When verdicts favour them, the Opposition praises the Supreme Court’s credibility, but when things don’t go their way, they conveniently claim the judiciary is compromised,” he said.

Responding to Raut’s statement, Deora said that during the 10-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Maharashtra, people “visit the homes of even their political opponents”. He said that in 2009, KG Balakrishnan, the chief justice at the time, had attended an iftaar party hosted by then Prime Minister Singh.

BJP publicity cell chief Amit Malviya also pointed to the former chief justice attending an iftaar party hosted by Singh. He alleged that the “entire Congress and Communist ecosystem” had a problem with the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi itself and not the “cordiality between the prime minister and the CJI”.