Gowri sworn in as Madras HC judge, SC dismisses plea against appointment

Apex court bench says court can only decide the question of Gowri's eligibility, not her suitability

As lawyer Victoria L Gowri was being sworn in as a judge of the Madras High Court on Tuesday, the Supreme Court dismissed petitions against her appointment.

A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and BR Gavai said the court can only decide the question of Gowri's eligibility to an additional judge and not her suitability.

"There is a difference between eligibility and suitability. On eligibility, there could be a challenge. But suitability? The courts should not get into suitability; the whole process will become haywire," Khanna said at the Supreme Court.

Senior lawyer Raju Ramachandran, who appeared for a petitioner appealing against Gowri’s appointment, said a person taking oath as a judge should bear true faith to the Constitution. "This person has been rendered unfit to take the oath due to her public utterances," he said.

Justice Khanna said there have been instances of persons with political backgrounds being appointed as judges.

Justice Gavai said, "I also have a political background, I have been a judge for many years and my political background has not come in the way."

Ramachandran said that political background is not the question at all in this case. He also read out an informal list of judges of the Supreme Court with a political past. "It is hate speech. Hate speech which is antithetical to the Constitution. That makes her unfit to take the oath. It will only be a paper oath," he said.

He added that the collegium may not have been aware of the so-called "hate speeches" when it recommended Gowri's name as an additional judge.

Justice Khanna said, "It is not that the collegium did not have this before them. For us to get into, this is opening up new jurisdiction which we have refrained from doing so."

Manan Kumar Mishra, the chairman of the Bar Council of India, said the BCI has checked and "there has been absolutely no complaints of misconduct against the person," he said.

The Supreme Court dismissed petitions challenging her appointment. "We are not entertaining the writ petitions. Reasons will follow," the court said.

Gowri's appointment

The collegium recommended Gowri's elevation to the Madras High Court on January 17, prompting a discussion in the legal fraternity on her alleged affiliation to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Shortly after this, her remarks against Islam and Christianity, in a 2018 interview clip on YouTube, also surfaced.

"Like Islam is green terror, Christianity is white terror," Gowri can apparently be heard saying in the interview.

In another interview, Gowri had said, "Bharatanatyam should not be danced for Christian songs."

After such clips surfaced, three lawyers from the Madras High Court filed petitions against Gowri.