Key Points

Within days of 18 retired judges criticising HM Shah's 'Salwa Judum' barb at Justice Reddy, 56 ex-judges on Tuesday said, "We feel compelled to place on record our strong disagreement with the recent statement issued by a group of retired judges and activists."

Led by two former Chief Justices of India, Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice Ranjan Gogoi, the 56 ex-judges from the Supreme Court and various High Courts, in a statement, hit out at their colleagues "misusing the cover of judicial independence for political convenience".

"We strongly call upon our brother judges to desist from lending their names to politically motivated statements. Let those who have chosen the path of politics defend themselves in that realm. The institution of the judiciary must be kept above and distinct from such entanglements," said the statement released by 56 former judges.

They also cautioned their brother judges from frequently issuing statements on political developments.

"It has become a predictable pattern, wherein every major political development is met with statements from the same quarters. These statements are determined to cloak their political partisanship under the language of judicial independence," said the statement.

"This practice does a great disservice to the institution we once served, as it projects judges as political actors. This erodes the prosperity, dignity and neutrality that the office of a judicial officer demands," it said.

Earlier, the group of 18 retired jurists objected to HM Shah's remarks against Justice Reddy, calling them unfortunate.

The group, including former Supreme Court Justices Kurien Joseph, Madan B. Lokur and J. Chelameswar, said HM Shah's remarks amounted to "prejudicial misinterpretation" that will have "chilling effect on the judges of the Supreme Court, shaking the independence of the judiciary".

While speaking at a public event in Kochi on August 23, HM Shah referred to Justice Reddy's 2011 'Salwa Judum' judgment, which had declared as "illegal" and "unconstitutional" the state-sponsored arming of young tribal men as special police officers in Chhattisgarh.

The ruling ordered that such militias be disbanded, stressing that the state must address the root causes of the insurgency through lawful governance rather than vigilante groups.

Revisiting that verdict, the Home Minister alleged the judgment indirectly strengthened Maoist extremists and curtailed the state's ability to counter insurgency.

"Sudershan Reddy is the person who helped Naxalism. He gave the Salwa Judum judgment. If that judgment had not been given, Naxal terrorism would have ended by 2020," the Home Minister said.

- IANS