SC refuses to entertain plea to restrain Justice Chandra Victoria Gowri from taking oath as HC Judge
With anxious moments persisting in the morning, the Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain pleas seeking to restrain lawyer Lekshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri (49) from taking oath as an additional judge of the Madras High Court, saying a “consultative process” had taken place before her name was recommended by the collegium for the appointment. The argument started before a Special Bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai at 10:25 am and Gowri’s swearing-in took place at 10:46 am, the apex court at 10:53 am dismissed petitions seeking to stop her swearing-in.
‘Not entertaining writ petitions’ against appointment, says SC
The apex court said Gowri has been appointed as an additional judge and if she is not true to the oath or does not discharge her duties in accordance with the oath, the collegium is entitled to take a view of that, while pointing out that there have been instances where people have not been made permanent judges. Five minutes before the top court dismissed two pleas against Gowri’s appointment, she was administered the oath of office as an additional judge by Madras High Court’s Acting Chief Justice T Raja at around 10:48 am.
“We are not entertaining the writ petition. Reasons will follow,” said a special bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai, which assembled at 10:25 am to hear the plea, five minutes before the scheduled time of the court. The two pleas, including one moved by three Madras High Court lawyers, opposed Gowri’s appointment as an additional judge.
The bench told senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, who appeared in the matter for the petitioners, that there have been cases where people with political backgrounds have taken oath as judges of the Supreme Court and high courts. “Mr Ramachandran, there have been cases where people with political backgrounds have taken oath over here also, as judges of the Supreme Court and high courts,” it said.
Communist lawyers tried, but they failed
“The collegium overruled that. The collegium said personal or political views of a candidate cannot be a ground for not recommending his name,” Justice Gavai observed. “As a matter of fact, before I came here, I also had a political background and I have been a judge for the last 20 years,” he said.
Many persons in politics became Judges in India in the past. Justice Krishna Iyer was Minister in Kerala’s Communist Government. Justice S K Hegde and Justice Bahrul Islam were Congress’ Rajya Sabha MPs. The Communist lawyers in Tamil Nadu was opposing Justice Victoria Gowri’s appointment citing that she was in BJP’s women’s wing and appeared in TV debates supporting right wingers.
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What is more desirable political affiliations of the past OR PRODUCTS OF NEPOTISM?