SC quashes plea against appointment of LC Victoria Gowri as Madras HC judge — What's the controversy about

Citing a quote by Swami Vivekananda, Gowri said she is conscious that she has been handed over the "greatest responsibility of being a judge." She will work to voice out the "unheard and the oppressed voices of the poorest of the poor," to liberate the marginalised, "scuttle" inequalities within society and nurture fraternity in a diverse country.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a plea against the appointment of Gowri as an additional judge of the Madras High Court. The court had also declined to stay the oath ceremony.

The apex court added that it couldn't direct the Collegium to reconsider its recommendation of Gowri adding that there had been several instances wherein based on their unsatisfactory performances, roles of additional judges were not made permanent.

”We are not entertaining the writ petition. Reasons will follow,” a special bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai said.

This decision was met by protests in Chennai on Tuesday afternoon by CPI(M) supporters and other advocates of the Madras High Court belonging to the All India Lawyers Union.

The special bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai assembled at 10:25 am on Tuesday to hear the pleas.

Senior advocate Raju Ramachandran said that oath-taking judges should bear true faith in the Constitution. Gowri has been rendered "unfit" to take oath due to her public utterances, Ramachandran said.

Ramachandran was appearing in the petition seeking to set aside the Collegium's recommendation for Gowri's appointment.

Fighting back, the Supreme Court said that apart from eligibility, it would not go into the suitability of a judge otherwise the whole process "will become haywire," ANI reports.

Justice Khanna in his response said that there have been instances of individuals with political backgrounds being appointed as judges. He added that the public utterances referred to by advocate Ramachandran were from speeches made by Gowri in 2018 and had probably been vetted by the Collegium prior to their recommendation.

Justice Gavai backed him up saying, "I also have a political background before joining the court as a judge. I have been a judge for 20 years and my political background has not come in my way."

On Monday morning, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud had advanced the plea of three Madras HC lawyers opposing the appointment of Gowri for from February 10 to February 7 after senior advocate Ramachandran mentioned it again, saying the Centre has notified her appointment.

The petitioner lawyers, Anna Mathew, Sudha Ramalingam and D Nagasaila, in their plea referred to the alleged hate speeches made by Gowri against Muslims and Christians.

The plea said, "The petitioners are seeking appropriate interim orders injuncting the 4th Respondent (Gowri) from taking the oath of office as a judge of the High Court, in view of the ’grave threat’ to the independence of the judiciary.”

Following usual practice including the reading out the Warrant of Appointment issued by the President, Gowri was administered the oath of office on Tuesday by Acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court Justice T Raja.

Besides Gowri, four others also took oath as additional judges of the High Court.