SC collegium judge bats for Gopal Subramanium, urges CJI to push back against government | ‘Sources’ say GS will withdraw | IB calls him odd

Wednesday, 25 June 2014 By Legally India Bar, Bench & Litigation

A judge on the Supreme Court’s collegium, talking on condition of anonymity to the Economic Times, has come out in support of elevating senior counsel Gopal Subramanium to the Supreme Court, despite the government’s attempts to veto his earlier nomination.

The judge said that Subramanium’s “credibility and integrity” were beyond doubt and that all the objections raised by the government, such as a taped telephone conversation between him and lobbyist Niira Radia, had been known to the collegium:

There was nothing against him and all these facts, which are now being cited, were known to us. This was a unanimous decision, and everyone was so happy to recommend Gopal, he is a man of integrity.

I know about this conversation with Nira Radia, this actually goes in his favour, where Radia is heard saying Gopal is a decent man, he can’t be handled or managed. And he is being targeted for a small thing like membership of swimming pool.

CJI can and should reiterate the recommendation, he can also refuse to administer oath to the other three judges, till Gopal’s name is cleared and file sent to him… It is about independence of Judiciary, the institution is being maligned, this was a unanimous decision. If I was the CJI, I would reiterate it. The SC Collegium knows everything about the counsels, we consider everything, integrity, competence, only then we make recommendation

Update: NDTV reported, citing “official sources”, that Subramanium would withdraw, while senior NDTV Journalist Barkha Dutt tweeted @bdutt:

my information is he is withdrawing […] formal announcement expected shortly

Subramanium was not reachable for comment.

Meanwhile, Firspost reported that the Intelligence Bureau (IB) report on Subramanium questioned his appointment because of “personal oddities” and “odd behaviour”, that in occasional decision making he relied on, Firstpost wrote, “spiritual instincts rather than rational logic”.

Gopal SubramaniumcollegiumSupreme Court

Comments

Guest 25 Jun 2014, 05:51
+3 -3
what a sham. to all those welcomed bjp rule , dont be so happy. the government is willing to use brute force to block any person they percieve will not agree with them
Ignoramus 26 Jun 2014, 07:32
+4 -1
This is utter bullshit. Tell me, is the judge who has expressed such opinion on the basis of anonymity to Economic Times fit to sit in the collegium at all? How do we know what all this chap has done under the cloud of such "anonymity"? Is it not fair for this person to resign and look for another job if his opinion is not heeded instead of offering anonymous tips to the media. Such cozy relationships are what compromises the independence of the judiciary. Look at where such "independence"of judiciary has taken us. We remain the only democratic country in the world where appointment to the judiciary (by the collegium) is a largely opaque process where the ordinary citizens are kept in the dark as to the qualifications which would enable a person to be able to be elevated to the Bench. The way the collegium works speaks for itself. What has the collegium done to ensure fair competition and equal opportunity for all to a post which involves expenditure from the public exchequer? Is it not something that is a fundamental requirement under the Constitution of India?
Kian, here is something that your research team may find out without too much effort. Is it true that in this country with the second largest number of lawyers in the world, there is a disproportionately large number of judge families where the son follows the father follows the grandfather to become judge?
Guest 25 Jun 2014, 05:52
+3 -0
so absolutely unfortunate. to all you g lawyers and litigators, this is a lesson. idealism is misplaced in india. this is simply a repeat of hr khanna all over again
no NaMo 25 Jun 2014, 07:42
+4 -1
Mr. GS is an honest man and he would have been boon to the Bench. He is indeed an inspiration for all. Even in transcripts of one of the conversation recorded between Nira Radia, she has mentioned that Mr. GS is a very upright person and would not do any unwanted favors to Reliance.
This is what Mr. GS is. We as a fraternity, anguished because of such a treatment given to one of the respectable Senior Adv. A big loss to Bench and even Bar though he will be continuing his practice.
Guest 25 Jun 2014, 10:02
+0 -1
A watershed in Indian judicial history and possibly an indicator of things to come.
Anon 25 Jun 2014, 13:29
+2 -4
The comments on this post are such nonsense. Why cry out loud for someone who's integrity is seriously under scrutiny?

One must understand that any scrutiny of a public figure, no less a judge of the Supreme Court, will cast aspersions on the decisions rendered by such judge. And mind you, the government is biggest litigator.

And for those giving this a colour of politics, the aspersions were cast during the previous government rule, not the present one.

Really silly for people to post such comments.
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