BREAKING| Collegium Has Taken Cognisance Of Complaints About Victoria Gowri, Says CJI; Agrees To Hear Plea Against Her Appointment Tomorrow

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Monday made a significant disclosure that the Supreme Court collegium has taken cognizance of the complaints against L Victoria Gowri, who has been recommended for appointment as a judge of the Madras High Court.

A section of the Madras High Court bar had last week sent a representation to the CJI seeking recall of the recommendation made for the elevation of Victoria Gowri on the ground that she has made hate speech against Christians and Muslims and that she has open affiliation with the BJP.

CJI made this statement while hearing an urgent listing request made by Senior Advocate Raju Ramachandran for a writ petition challenging Gowri's appointment as Madras High Court judge.

"There are certain developments which have taken place, in the sense that the collegium has taken cognizance of what was drawn to our attention, or came to our notice, after we formulated our recommendations on the recommendation of the Chief Justice of the collegium of High Court of Madras. Since we have taken cognizance of certain developments which have taken place thereafter, we can list this petition tomorrow morning. I will constitute a bench. Let that go before the appropriate bench", CJI told Ramachandran.

Earlier, Ramachandran had mentioned the matter at noon, upon which CJI agreed to hear it on Friday. Meanwhile, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted that Gowri and few others have been appointed as additional judges of High Courts.

In view of this development, the senior counsel mentioned the matter again at 2 PM. He cited a judgment of the Supreme Court to say that there has been judicial intervention in the past to restrain the President from issuing warrant of appointment, after a person was found to be eligible.

In the case of Gowri, certain "vital information" was kept back from the Supreme Court collegium and hence the collegium was handicapped in making an informed decision. Therefore, the recommendation has been made without meaningful consultation, he argued.

The writ petition filed by Advocates Anna Mathews, Sudha Ramalingam and D Nagasila seeks to set aside the recommendation concerning Gowri as unconstitutional for lack of effective consultation for the purposes of Article 217 of the Constitution.

The petitioners also seek to declare that Gowri is disqualified for being considered for appointment as a judge on account of her prejudices against the minorities. "A person who bears “ill-will” against sections of people based on their religion cannot render fair and impartial justice, which is a basic structure of the constitution", the petition states.