The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday said that it “completely rejects” statements by party MPs Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh Sharma about the judiciary and the chief justice of India.

BJP chief JP Nadda said he instructed both of them, as well as other party members, not to make such statements.

“The Bharatiya Janata Party has nothing to do with the statements made by BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh Sharma on the judiciary and the chief justice of the country,” Nadda said. “These are their personal statements, but the BJP neither agrees with such statements nor does it ever support such statements.”

Nadda said that the BJP respects the judiciary and believes that all courts in the country, including the Supreme Court, are an integral part of democracy.

Earlier in the day, Dubey had said in an interview with ANI that the Supreme Court was responsible for “inciting religious wars” in the country.

“The Supreme Court is going beyond its limits…” Dubey had said. “If one has to go to the Supreme Court for everything, then Parliament and state Assembly should be shut...”

Dubey cited the court’s decisions to decriminalise homosexuality in 2018 and the striking down of section 66(a) of the Information Technology Act in 2021.

The MP from Jharkhand’s Godda claimed that the court had decriminalised homosexuality despite “all [religious] communities considering it wrong”. He also claimed that section 66(a) of the IT Act was necessary to stop the misuse of online platforms to share objectionable content.

Dubey also questioned how the Supreme Court could issue directives to its appointing authority. “The president appoints the chief justice of India,” he said.

The comment was in reference to the Supreme Court’s April 8 judgement imposing a three-month deadline for the president to approve or reject bills referred by state governors.

“Parliament makes the law of this country,” Dubey said. “You will dictate that Parliament?...How did you make a new law? In which law is it written that the president has to take a decision within three months?”

In a similar vein, another BJP MP, Dinesh Sharma, said that no one can challenge the president, as the president is supreme, ANI reported.

“According to the Constitution of India, no one can direct the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and the President has already given her assent to it,” the Rajya Sabha MP said. “No one can challenge the president, as the president is supreme.”