MDMK headquarters secretary Durai Vaiko on Monday sought reconsideration of the decision by the Supreme Court collegium to appoint advocate Victoria Gowri as a judge of the Madras High Court, contending her appointment would not augur well for Indian democracy and plurality.
Talking to reporters, he said, Ms. Gowri had expressed unacceptable comments against minority communities on public platforms and social media. “The question is whether a person belonging to the minority community will get justice from her court,” he said while explaining the letter written by MDMK general secretary Vaiko, left leaders of Tamil Nadu, VCK leader Thol. Thirumavalavan, MMK leader M.H. Jawahirullah and Congress leader Peter Alphonse to the President and Chief Justice of India for reconsidering her appointment.
When asked what was wrong in appointing Ms. Gowri, since advocates with political backgrounds had been appointed as judges in the past, Mr. Durai Vaiko said judges such as K. Chandru and Hari Paranthaman had quit political activism long before their appointments as judges. “There were advocates, who subscribed to certain political views and ideas. But they never had expressed hatred for a particular section of the society,” he said.
Mr. Durai Vaiko said as Ms. Gowri had already been appointed as the additional judge of the Madras High Court, only the Supreme Court could take a decision since a case had been filed against her appointment. “I have faith in the Supreme Court,” he said.
In their letter to the President and CJI, the leaders said, “we apprehend that the prospect of Ms. Gowri’s elevation would serve not only to shake the confidence of the Indian public in our higher judiciary, but also undermine the very institution and its independence.”
The leaders said though Ms. Gowri was entitled to express her political views, “her statements were extraordinary and in fact, constitute nothing but hate speech that is calculated to drive a wedge between various communities.”
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