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Political Appointments Row: Key Plea On High Court Judges!

By:  Tupaki Desk   |   30 May 2023 6:15 PM GMT
Political Appointments Row: Key Plea On High Court Judges!
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A key petition was filed in Supreme Court on Supreme Court and High Court judges. Bombay Lawyers Association moved the Supreme Court seeking directives for the two years gap(cooling off period) for Supreme Court and high court judges to hold any positions after their retirement.

The lawyers' body requested the Supreme Court to see that there should be a gap of at least two years for the retired judges to hold any positions like Governors. In its plea, the Bombay Lawyers Association said that justices taking up such positions is resulting in mixed opinions in public on the independence of the judiciary.

The Bombay Lawyers Association, in its plea filed through founder President and Advocate Ahmad Mehdi Abdi, referred to the appointment of former apex court judge Justice S Abdul Nazeer as the governor of Andhra Pradesh on February 12 this year as the reason for filing the case.

Advocate Ahmad Mehdi Abdi, who is the founder chief of The Bombay Lawyers Association filed a petition in the Apex Court. He mentioned that former Supreme Court Judge Justice S Abdul Nazeer was appointed as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh on February 12, 2023, after he stepped down from the position. The body said that this is the reason behind filing the petition. Abdi also mentioned that former Chief Justice P Sathasivam was appointed as the Governor of Kerala.

In his petition, the body also mentioned that Justice Ranjan Gogoi (ex-CJI) was nominated to Rajya Sabha. The lawyers' body requested the Supreme Court to give directives to see that ‘after retirement, there should be two years cooling off period for the Judges of Supreme Court and High Court from accepting any other political appointment’.

The body sought directives from the Apex Court that there would be a cooling off period of two years for the judges of the higher courts before they accept a political office and the condition would be imposed and judges cannot cannot offer any positions without the cooling off period.

In the petition, the lawyers' body mentioned the IPL spot-fixing scandal and the recommendations made by the Supreme Court-appointed panel led by former CJI RM Lodha that there should be a cooling off period of three years for a board official.

Giving the mentions of appointing Justice Nazeer as the Governor and nominating Gogoi to the Rajya Sabha, the lawyers' body said that former justices accepting such posts would give wrong intentions to the people on the independence of the Judiciary.