NEW DELHI: The Congress on Sunday lashed out at the Centre over the appointment of retired Supreme Court judge S Abdul Nazeer as the governor of Andhra Pradesh. It reminded the BJP-led Central government of remarks made by its own late leader Arun Jaitley who had said “pre-retirement judgements are influenced by post-retirement jobs”.
“One of your (BJP) tall leaders Arun Jaitley, on September 5, 2013 in the House and several times outside stated that desire of a post-retirement job influences pre-retirement judgements. It is a threat to the independence of the judiciary,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said.
Hitting back at the Congress, the BJP said similar appointments have been made in the past as well. “Former judges have been appointed to different positions countless times. Our Constitution also says nothing against post-retirement appointment of judges,” BJP chief spokesperson Anil Baluni said.