NEW DELHI: Despite strong objection from opposition parties and members of the judiciary, the Centre on Wednesday appointed former Chief Justice of India Palanisamy Sathasivam as Kerala Governor.
The 65-year-old became the first retired Supreme Court chief justice to be picked for a gubernatorial position. Sathasivam, who delivered several landmark judgments including in the 1993 Mumbai blasts, Gas judgment and Jessica Lal murder cases, retired in April after serving as Chief Justice of the apex court for eight months. A statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan said that the President has accepted the resignation of Sheila Dikshit, who put in her papers last week, and has appointed Sathasivam with effect from the date he assumes charge.
But the government’s move to appoint Sathasivam as Governor has sparked massive controversy within the political and legal fraternity with former Chief Justice of India VN Khare raising concerns over political intervention in the judiciary in the coming years. Khare had maintained that no Chief Justice has ever been offered or accepted this post and it will set a bad precedent.
Similar views were voiced by former Chief Justices of India, A M Ahmadi and G B Patnaik, saying such appointments are purely political in nature and no retired High Court or Supreme Court judge should take up the offer. The All India Bar Association and Kerala High Court Advocates Association also opposed the move, which they said would lower the dignity of the judiciary. In fact, 117 members of the Kerala High Court Advocates Association had moved a resolution requesting President Pranab Mukherjee to reject the recommendation.
However, Congress appeared divided over the issue with leaders speaking in different voices and adding to embarrassment for the party which had strongly opposed the decision. Anand Sharma on Tuesday had attacked the government for the appointment and had questioned whether he has done some work which pleased Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah. But, his party colleague Manish Tewari played down the row saying there is no constitutional or legal bar in the appointment, prompting Congress to clarify that it was Tewari’s personal views as he is not the party’s spokesperson. In fact, it was Congress that earlier brought former CJI Rangnath Mishra to Rajya Sabha, which was even worse.
'Will do better than politicians’
Unfazed by criticism from several quarters, P Sathasivam, who is set to be sworn in on Friday, said, “I can utilise my service to the people of the State in a better way compared to other politicians... I want to utilise my experience for the people of the particular State.”