NEW DELHI: A group of 56 judges including two former Chief Justices of India P Sathasivam and Ranjan Gogoi on Tuesday rebutted a statement of a few former judges, who sought to call out Union Home Minister Amit Shah for "misinterpretation" of a judgment in Salwa Judum case delivered by opposition candidate to Vice President post, Justice B Sudarshan Reddy in his stint as a judge.
"We, as former judges of this country, feel compelled to place on record our strong disagreement with the recent statement issued by a group of retired judges and activists," they said in a statement.
They pointed out it has become a predictable pattern, wherein every major political development is met with statements from the same quarters.
"These statements are determined to cloak their political partisanship under the language of judicial independence. This practice does a great disservice to the institution we once served, as it projects judges as political actors," they said.
Maintaining that this erodes the prosperity, dignity and neutrality that the office of a judicial officer demands, they pointed out, a fellow retired judge has chosen, of his own volition, to contest the election for the office of the Vice President of India.
"By doing so, he has stepped into the political arena as a candidate supported by the opposition. Having made that choice, he must defend his candidacy like any other contestant, in the realm of political debate," they said.
To suggest otherwise is to stifle democratic discourse and to misuse the cover of judicial independence for political convenience. Judicial independence is not threatened by the criticism of a political candidate, they added.
"What truly tarnishes the reputation of the judiciary is when former judges repeatedly issue partisan statements, giving the impression that the institution itself is aligned with political battles. As a result of these tactics, because of the fault of a few, the larger body of judges ends up being painted as partisan coterie," they said.
The former judges said, this is neither fair nor healthy for India’s judiciary or democracy.
"We therefore strongly call upon our brother judges to desist from lending their names to politically motivated statements. Let those who have chosen the path of politics defend themselves in that realm. The institution of the judiciary must be kept above and distinct from such entanglements," they said.
Among those who issued the statement are, Justice A K Sikri and Justice M R Shah, former Judges, Supreme Court, and former Chief Justice of MP HC, Justice Suresh Kait, ex CJ of J& K HC Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey, former Chief Justice, Kerala High Court, Navniti P Singh, former CJ of Rajasthan Hac Justice SK Mittal, Former Chief justice Patna High Court Justice L Narsimha Reddy.
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