'Publicity stunt': Former SC Judge Lok Pal Singh on political remarks, letters by retired jurists

New Delhi, Aug 29 (IANS) Former Uttarakhand High Court Judge Lok Pal Singh on Friday disapproved of the growing trend of retired jurists indulging in perceived “political activism” and issuing critical statements about the Supreme Court and High Courts for publicity.

“It’s not appropriate for a retired judge to indulge in politics. I respect retired judges, but they should always refrain from issuing statements against the Supreme Court and High Courts,” Justice (Retd) Lok Pal Singh told IANS.

He said it would have been much better if the retired judges had spoken their minds or criticised the Supreme Court collegium while serving in the top courts.

“Tactics of mounting pressure should be shunned. Those who want to pursue ‘practice and tactics’ of mounting pressure should join politics where they will find a platform to do so,” said Justice Lok Pal Singh, describing statements over collegium’s decisions as a “publicity stunt”.

On Law Commission Member Hitesh Jain’s statement, the former Judge said, "Every person starts as a lawyer, and some become judges. They carry their ideology from before becoming a judge, and even after retirement, they continue following it. Their statements are based on this ideology."

Jain had criticised a section of retired judges, accusing them of acting like “political activists” under the guise of defending judicial independence.

A sharp division between retired judges has emerged recently, ever since former Supreme Court Judge B. Sudershan Reddy joined the race for the Vice President’s election as a nominee of the INDIA bloc. Justice Reddy also invited political attacks for being “anti-Maoism” as he was a part of the bench which delivered the 2011 ‘Salwa Judum’ judgment to disband groups of state government-armed citizens, trained to counter the Maoists.

Justice Lok Pal Singh said a recent solidarity letter issued in favour of Justice Reddy by 18 judges could have been avoided. “Their step has damaged the judiciary’s image. Citizens are also seeing the judiciary through a political prism,” he added.

Talking about the 4:1 split in the collegium over the elevation of Patna High Court Chief Justice Vipul Pancholi to the Supreme Court, Justice Lok Pal Singh said, “The collegium functions under a system and there are several examples of junior judges being elevated ahead of seniors.”

Dismissing criticism of the collegium as a waste of time and effort, he said, "After retirement, whether it is a Supreme Court judge, a High Court judge, or myself, even if we keep speaking, it has no impact on the collegium."

He also talked about the huge backlog of cases in the country and agreed with Supreme Court Judge Surya Kant that a lot needs to be done by those who are appointed as Judges.

--IANS

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