A group of 18 retired judges, including several former Supreme Court justices, slammed Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent remarks against opposition vice-presidential candidate and ex-SC judge B. Sudershan Reddy, calling them “unfortunate” and a “prejudicial misinterpretation” of a Supreme Court judgment.
Shah had alleged that Reddy “supported Naxalism” through the 2011 Salwa Judum judgment, claiming Left Wing Extremism would have ended by 2020 had the court not ruled against the vigilante movement.
Speaking in Kerala, Shah accused Reddy of being inspired by an ideology that hindered anti-Naxal efforts.
In a joint statement, the retired judges said the Salwa Judum verdict did not support Naxalism in any form and condemned Shah’s remarks as a distortion of judicial reasoning.
“Misrepresenting a Supreme Court ruling by a senior political leader can have a chilling effect on judicial independence,” the statement read.
Signatories include former SC justices Kurien Joseph, Madan B Lokur, J Chelameswar, A K Patnaik, Abhay Oka, Vikramjit Sen, and Gopala Gowda, along with former chief justices and high court judges like S. Muralidhar, Govind Mathur, Sanjib Banerjee, and Anjana Prakash.
The statement urged restraint and civility in political discourse, particularly during high constitutional elections. “While ideological battles may be part of campaigns, they must be conducted with dignity. Name-calling demeans the offices being contested,” it added.
Justice Reddy, responding briefly, declined to engage in a political back-and-forth, saying the judgment was that of the Supreme Court, not his alone. He noted that Shah may not have read the full verdict before commenting.
The 2011 SC ruling, delivered by Justices Reddy and S.S. Nijjar, declared the use of tribal youth as Special Police Officers in anti-Maoist operations unconstitutional and ordered the disbanding of Salwa Judum, a controversial anti-Naxal militia backed by the Chhattisgarh government.
(With Inputs from PTI)