‘Refrain from name-calling’: Ex-SC judges hit out at Amit Shah’s remarks on oppn VP candidate B Sudarshan; warn of ‘chilling effect’ | India News

NEW DELHI: A group of retired Supreme Court judges on Monday wrote to Union home minister Amit Shah, objection his remarks against opposition vice presidential candidate B Sudershan Reddy over the Salwa Judum judgement.The group of 18 former judges said that termed Shah’s remarks “unfortunate” and said it would be wise to refrain from “name-calling”.“The statement of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, publicly misinterpreting the judgment of the Supreme Court in the Salwa Judum case, is unfortunate. The judgment nowhere supports, either expressly or by compelling implication of its text, Naxalism or its ideology,” the statement signed by the 18 former judges said.“While the campaign for the office of the Vice-President of India may well be ideological, it can be conducted civilly and with dignity. Criticising the so-called ideology of either candidate should be eschewed,” the letter read.“Prejudicial misinterpretation of a judgment of the Supreme Court by a high political functionary is likely to have a chilling effect on the judges of the Supreme Court, shaking the independence of the judiciary. Out of respect for the office of the Vice President of India, it would be wise to refrain from “name-calling”, the retired judges said,” it added.The former Supreme Court judges who signed the statement are A K Patnaik, Abhay Oka, Gopala Gowda, Vikramjit Sen, Kurien Joseph, Madan B Lokur, and J Chelameswar.The other signatories to the letter include former judges of high courts Anjana Prakash, C Praveen Kumar, A Gopal Reddy, G Raghuram, K Kannan, K Chandru, B Chandrakumar and Kailash Gambhir. Prof Mohan Gopal and senior advocate Sanjay Hegde also signed the statement.Speaking in Kerala on Friday, BJP leader Shah had said, “Sudershan Reddy is the person who helped Naxalism. He gave Salwa Judum judgment. If the Salwa Judum judgment had not been given, the Naxal terrorism would have ended by 2020. He is the person who was inspired by the ideology that gave Salwa Judam judgment.”Reddy, on Saturday, said he did not wish to join issues with the home minister, asserting that the verdict was not his but that of the Supreme Court. He also said that Shah would not have made the remarks had he read the complete judgment.He, along with Justice S S Nijjar, was part of an apex court bench that had in July 2011 ordered the disbanding of Salwa Judum, ruling that using tribal youths as Special Police Officers in the fight against Maoist insurgents was illegal and unconstitutional.