Kerala Governor P Sathasivam's appointment today sparked controversy as the opposition raised questions over the credibility and independence of the judiciary in the country.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) General Secretary Tariq Anwar linked the Kerala Governor post being awarded to P Sathasivam to the former Chief Justice of India earlier giving a clean chit to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah in the fake encounter case last year.
"The position of Chief Justice of India (CJI) in our hierarchy is on fourth or fifth position and if he accepts the governorship then that is also wrong. The government has awarded him and everybody knows that he has been given this gift because he had given relief to Amit Shah. It is not good for judiciary because so far the Judiciary in our country is considered to be most independent and it is believed that it will not do any kind of favoritism or partiality," said Anwar.
"If it's true that for giving relief to Amit Shah in fake encounter case last year he has been appointed as the governor, then it questions the impartiality of our judiciary. The credibility of the judiciary will suffer. It's a matter of great concern," he added.
Congress leader PC Chacko criticized the Government for appointing the Governor without consulting the Chief Minister and said that it is unfair to do so.
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"It is most unfortunate that the person of his stature is being unnecessarily dragged into the controversy. We said that it is not fair and proper on the part of the Government of India, firstly appointing the governors without consulting the CM. Secondly; Justice Sathasivam's appointment was a very controversial one so it was very unfortunate and since they have taken the decision I have nothing more to say," said Chacko.
Earlier today, Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Palaniswamy Sathasivam was appointed as the Governor of Kerala, succeeding Sheila Dikshit who had submitted her resignation as the Kerala Governor last month.
Sathasivam was the 40th CJI holding office from July 2013 to April 2014 and was on the Supreme Court bench that had scrapped a second FIR against Amit Shah in the fake encounter case last year.
