NEW DELHI: Describing the recent comments by the two judges of the Supreme Court against suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma as “unfortunate and unprecedented in the annals of the Indian judiciary,” a group of 117 retired judges, civil servants and defence veterans on Tuesday asked for “urgent rectification steps” to be taken.
In an open letter, they said, “Nupur Sharma sought access to the justice system before the highest court. The observations that have no connection jurisprudentially with the issue raised in the petition, transgressed in an unprecedented manner all cannons of the dispensation of justice. She was de facto denied access to the judiciary and in the process, there was an outrage on the preamble, spirit and essence of the Constitution.”
Criticizing the observations against Sharma, the 117 signatories further stated, “In the annals of the judiciary, the unfortunate comments have no parallel and are an indelible scar on the justice system of the largest democracy. Urgent rectification steps are called for as these have potentially serious consequences on democratic values and security of the country.” They added: “By no stretch, these observations, which are not part of the judicial order, can be sanctified on the plank of judicial propriety and fairness.”
Sharma had knocked at the door of SC, urging for clubbing of multiple FIRs registered against her in many states over her communal remarks.
On July 1, the vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala had said that Sharma’s “loose tongue” had set the “entire country on fire” and that she is “single-handedly responsible” for the aftermath. The bench refused to entertain Sharma’s plea for clubbing the FIRs. Defending her plea for clubbing of FIRs, the open letter said, “One fails to understand why Nupur’s case is treated at a different pedestal. Such an approach of the Supreme Court deserves no applause and impacts the very sanctity and honour of the highest court of the land.”
The signatories included former Bombay HC chief justice Kshitij Vyas; former Gujarat HC judge S M Soni; former Rajasthan HC judges R S Rathore and Prashant Aggarwal; former Delhi HC judge S N Dhingra; former IAS officers R S Gopalan and S Krishna Kumar; retired envoy Niranjan Desai; former DGPs S P Vaid and B L Vohra; Lt Gen V K Chaturvedi (retd) and Air Marshal S P Singh (retd).
‘Surpassed Laxman Rekha’
“We, as concerned citizens, do believe that democracy of any country will remain intact till all the institutions perform their duties as per the constitution. Recent comments by the two judges of the SC have surpassed the Laxman Rekha,” the open letter said