The Supreme Court on Tuesday heard a plea challenging the appointment of advocate Lekshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri as the Madras High Court judge. During the hearing, SC observed that it is not the first time a person with a political background was chosen as a High Court judge. The top court also said it won’t be entertaining the writ petition.
Notably, the oath-taking ceremony is also underway in Chennai and according to reports, Victoria Gowri has taken oath as Madras HC judge, while the Supreme court hearing is still underway.
“The candidate chosen is an additional judge and there have been cases where persons have not been permanently appointed if the performance is not satisfactory. I don’t think we’ll be in a position to say it’s a question of eligibility, and secondly, we can’t direct the Collegium,” SC noted during the hearing.
The plea challenging L Victoria Gowri’s appointment as Madras HC judge was submitted by senior advocate Raju Ramachandran. Her appointment first took a controversial turn after reports emerged about her alleged affiliation to the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).
Ramachandran was present during the hearing on Tuesday. He argued that the swearing-in of Madras HC judges should not happen when the CJI has said that the collegium is still looking into it. However, SC said it cannot direct the Collegium to reconsider its recommendation relating to Victoria Gowri.
When SC noted that it is not the first time a person with a political background was chosen, Ramachandran countered saying, “Here it is not a case of political views, but of hate speeches made by Gowri of an anti-Constitutional framework.”
Earlier, lawyers cited Gowri’s alleged statements against minorities in the past and claimed that her elevation will dent the independence of the judiciary. Some statements of Gowri, who was proposed for the judgeship, about Muslims and Christians have purportedly surfaced in the public domain.
In the petition, advocate Ramachandran had pleaded it was urgent. “They (several lawyers) are praying for interim relief. I would request you to take it at the earliest,” the senior lawyer said.
The bench, which initially agreed to list the plea for hearing on February 13, later said it will hear it on February 10.
Gowri’s name along with four other lawyers for elevation to high court was recommended by a collegium, comprising Chandrachud, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, and KM Joseph. The recommendations were made on January 17.
Later, the members of the Madras High Court (HC) Bar Council objected to the collegium’s recommendation in separate letters addressed to President Droupadi Murmu and the SC collegium.
Read all the Latest India News here
Comments
0 comment