Fraternity opposes moves to appoint ex-CJI P Sathasivam as governor

Former chief justice of India (CJI) P Sathasivam's reported consent to to take up the post of governor in Kerala after Sheila Dikshit resigned has not only evoked political reactions but also drawn criticism from judicial fraternity.

Retired Supreme Court judges have opined that although it was his individual decision and there is no legal bar which restrains him from accepting the offer but no judge should opt for such political positions as a post-retirement job.

Suggesting that the judiciary is always independent, former CJI justice A M Ahmadi, said, "Normally retired judges from either high court or Supreme Court should not be in politics. There are some precedents and convention one has to follow."

Justice G B Patnaik, who retired as CJI in December 2002, also concurred with his ex-senior colleague's view and said, "Justice Sathasivam should not have accepted the offer. This is purely a political appointment and earlier, the Law commission of India had also recommended that no retired high court or Apex court judge should accept such political posts."

So far in the history of judiciary, Justice Fatima Biwi, who retired as judge of top court in 1992, was appointed as NHRC member and subsequently she was governor of Tamil Nadu between 1997 and 2001.

Writing a letter to President Pranab Mukherjee, All India Bar Association through its president Adish Aggarwal opposed the government's move and said Justice Sathasivam should not even be made as Lokpal or National Human Rights Commission head.

"He has to maintain the dignity of his position. It will lower the dignity of judiciary," Aggarwal said.

The Supreme Court Bar Association President P H Parekh said "Justice Sathasivam should have maintained some cooling period."

Similarly, retired Supreme Court judge K T Thomas said, "In my opinion, there should be a quarantine period of two years because judicial posts are delicate ones, Justice Sathasivam, 65, hailed from Tamil Nadu, was the 40th chief justice of India who held the office as CJI from July 2013 to April 2014.

When contacted, sources in Justice Sathasivam's office said, "Ex-CJI will speak only after Dikshit leaves her office in Kerala on September 4."