Sudershan Reddy questions letter’s credibility
NEW DELHI: Some of the 56 retired judges, including a former Supreme Court judge, have said that they neither signed nor were aware of the statement slamming 18 judges over criticism of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks regarding opposition vice presidential candidate Justice Sudershan Reddy’s ruling on the Salwa Judum.
Confirming this, Reddy, in an interview to this newspaper, said that one of the purported signatories happened to be a former judge of the apex court. “The judge told me that he hadn’t heard about such a letter and knew nothing about it. In fact, quite a few judges in the list haven’t signed it and some of them were not even aware that such a letter is published,” he said.
According to people aware of the matter, Justice Reddy was referring to Justice RV Raveendran, who has clarified to the former that he is not a signatory to the statement. Among the signatories, one or perhaps more are fictitious names, Reddy said, adding, “Our research suggests that one or perhaps more names of the ex-judges of the High Court in the list are fictitious.”
On Tuesday, as many as 56 former Judges, including two former Chief Justices of India, P Sathasivam and Ranjan Gogoi, in a statement, slammed a few former judges over criticism of Amit Shah for remarks on Reddy. The institution of the judiciary must be kept above and distinct from such entanglement, they said.
“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. To suggest otherwise is to stifle democratic discourse and to misuse the cover of judicial independence for political convenience,” read the letter.
Expressing reservations over the statement, Justice Reddy said that it is not a political battle and he wants the contest to be one of the most decent elections ever fought in recent times in Indian history.
“I do not think that the ex-judges have written anything against me. They have expressed their opinion to which they are entitled to, and I respect it,”
“However, I would acknowledge the invaluable suggestion made by them that the office of the Vice-President of India is a political one, and I have chosen to contest for a political office. I would disagree with them on that part of their statement with great respect,” he added. Citing the examples of Dr S Radhakrishnan, Dr Zakir Husain, and V V Giri, he said, “They were not party persons. There is nothing political about it”. Stressing that he doesn’t belong to any political party and has no intention to join any in future, Reddy said that he will soon write to all political parties seeking support in the upcoming election.
“The Electoral College as such doesn’t contain any colour, does it? All of them are voters. It’s my obligation and duty to talk to each of the voters. And the method I have chosen is to communicate with them through my appeal. I am writing to each one of them,” he said.
‘Don’t think ex-judges have written against me’
Expressing reservations over the statement, Justice Reddy said that it is not a political battle and he wants the contest to be one of the most decent elections ever fought in recent times in Indian history. “I do not think that the ex-judges have written anything against me. They have expressed their opinion to which they are entitled to, and I respect it,”