It’s hard to see the wisdom of the chief justice inserting himself so blatantly in the political terrain

It has to be said loud and clear and without any equivocation that the judiciary should not in any way be involved in the cut and thrust of politics or  mudslinging of any sort. To fulfil its role as an independent arbiter in a rumbustious democracy such as we have, the institution has to be ring-fenced or quarantined from such conflicts.