Retd judges term Shah’s remarks on Oppn’s VP pick ‘unfortunate’

Days after Home Minister Amit Shah accused INDIA bloc’s Vice-Presidential candidate and retired Supreme Court judge B Sudarshan Reddy of supporting Naxalism, a group of retired judges on Sunday termed his remarks “unfortunate”.

At a media event in Kerala on August 22, Shah referred to Justice Reddy’s landmark 2011 ‘Salwa Judum’ judgment, which struck down the Chhattisgarh government’s practice of arming tribal youth as “special police officers”, calling it “illegal” and “unconstitutional”.

Citing that ruling, Shah had alleged that Justice Reddy used the Supreme Court to support the Naxal movement.

“Reddy is the person who helped Naxalism. He gave the Salwa Judum judgment. If that judgment had not been given, Naxal terrorism would have ended by 2020. He is the person who, inspired by that ideology, gave the judgment,” Shah said.

He further claimed that the Congress, under Left pressure, was fielding a Vice-Presidential candidate who had “supported Naxalism with a forum like the Supreme Court”.

In a signed statement, a group of retired Supreme Court and High Court judges, along with legal luminaries, countered Shah’s remarks. “The Home Minister’s statement publicly misinterpreting the judgment of the Supreme Court in the Salwa Judum case is unfortunate. The judgment nowhere supports, either expressly or by implication, Naxalism or its ideology,” they said.

The statement also stressed that while the campaign for the Vice-President’s office may be ideological, it should be conducted with dignity. “Criticising the so-called ideology of either candidate should be eschewed,” the signatories wrote.

Warning of wider implications, they added: “Prejudicial misinterpretation of a judgment of the Supreme Court by a high political functionary is likely to have a chilling effect on the judges of the Supreme Court, shaking the independence of the judiciary.”

The statement concluded that, out of respect for the Vice President’s office, political leaders should refrain from “name-calling”.

Signatories included former SC judges Justices AK Patnaik, Abhay Oka, Gopala Gowda, Vikramjit Sen, Kurien Joseph, Madan Lokur and J Chelameswar, along with former chief justices of High Courts and other senior jurists.