A group of 18 former judges, including three retired Supreme Court judges, have sharply criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah for his comments targeting the opposition’s vice-presidential nominee, former apex court judge B. Sudershan Reddy. The judges described Shah’s remarks as a “prejudicial misinterpretation” of the Supreme Court’s 2011 Salwa Judum judgment and said such statements from high political offices were “unfortunate” and could have a chilling effect on the judiciary.
The joint statement, signed by former SC judges Kurien Joseph, Madan B. Lokur, J. Chelameswar, A.K. Patnaik, Abhay Oka, Gopala Gowda and Vikramjit Sen, along with three former High Court chief justices Sanjib Banerjee, Govind Mathur, and S. Muralidhar, urged Shah to avoid “name-calling” in political campaigns. “The judgment nowhere supports, either expressly or by compelling implication, Naxalism or its ideology,” they asserted, adding that while the vice-presidential campaign may be ideological, it should be conducted “civilly and with dignity.”
Shah, speaking in Kerala on Friday, alleged that Reddy “helped Naxalism” by delivering the Salwa Judum verdict, claiming that if the ruling had not been passed, “Naxal terrorism would have ended by 2020.” In response, Reddy clarified that the 2011 judgment — co-authored with Justice S.S. Nijjar — was a Supreme Court decision, not his alone, and urged Shah to read the ruling in full before drawing conclusions.
The 2011 verdict had ordered the disbanding of Salwa Judum, a state-backed militia, and declared illegal the recruitment of tribal youths as Special Police Officers to fight Maoists in Chhattisgarh. The court held that such practices violated constitutional protections and human rights.
The vice-presidential election to choose a successor to Jagdeep Dhankhar, who resigned from the post, is scheduled for September 9.
