Editorial: Uncharitable attack on Justice Sudershan Reddy

It is unfortunate that the vice-presidential race is being dragged into the politics of personal attacks

Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks on the opposition candidate for the vice-presidential election, Justice B Sudershan Reddy, are highly deplorable and amount to questioning the integrity of a judge who has built an impeccable reputation over decades. It is unfortunate that the vice-presidential race is being dragged into the politics of personal attacks. It is quite astounding how a responsible central minister — that too holding the Home portfolio — can accuse Justice Reddy, a former Supreme Court judge, of ‘supporting naxalism’. Apparently, the minister was referring to the 2011 landmark judgement by the Apex Court bench, of which Reddy was a member, banning ‘Salwa Judum’, a private militia of tribal youth raised by the police to fight Maoists. The SC had dubbed the outfit as unconstitutional and illegal and went against the essence of democratic functioning. In the famous Nandini Sundar versus State of Chhattisgarh case, the top court directed that the practice of using tribal youth as Special Police Officers to counter the naxal insurgency be brought to an end. The Salwa Judum, raised in 2005, was accused of human rights abuses. It comprised largely tribal youth armed with basic training and firearms. Curiously, Shah now argues that if the Salwa Judum judgement had not been given, naxalism would have ended by 2020. This is a very specious argument. Moreover, the top court never told the Centre not to fight naxals. It only said that the state cannot outsource its responsibility to protect its people.

During his four-and-a-half-year tenure as an SC judge before his retirement in 2011, Justice Reddy delivered several important judgments, some of them being very critical of the then UPA government. Post-retirement, he was personally picked by Goa’s BJP Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar as the State Lok Ayukta in March 2013, a post he quit seven months later on personal grounds. In Telangana, too, he chaired an expert group that examined the Caste Census. It would be inappropriate to attribute political motives to him. He had a remarkable journey from a humble background in Telangana to reach the top echelons of the judiciary and is widely known for his professional integrity and commitment to the social justice cause. Born into an agricultural family in Ranga Reddy district, he graduated in law from Osmania University in Hyderabad in 1971. He was named the government pleader in August 1988 in the Andhra Pradesh High Court and argued the revenue department cases. He continued in the post until January 1990. He was appointed as an additional standing counsel for the central government and elected as Andhra Pradesh High Court Advocates’ Association president in 1993. Elevated as an additional high court judge in May 1995, he was appointed as the Gauhati High Court Chief Justice in December 2005. He was elevated as a Supreme Court judge in January 2007 and retired in July 2011.

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