Former judges, bureaucrats say SC's observations against Nupur Sharma not in sync with judicial ethos

NEW DELHI: A group of former judges and bureaucrats has written an open letter criticising the observations of the Supreme Court in the hearing of the case against expelled BJP leader Nupur Sharma.

In the open letter, they alleged that the apex court surpassed the "Lakshman rekha" in the hearing and called for "urgent rectification" steps.
Criticising the observations, the statement issued by the veterans stated, "We, as concerned citizens, do believe that democracy of any country will remain intact till all the institutions perform their duties as per the constitution.
"Recent comments by the two judges of the Supreme Court -Justice Surya Kant and Justice JB Pardiwala have surpassed the Lakshman Rekha and compelled us to issue an open statement."

It further added that the "unfortunate comments" in the case are an "indelible scar on the justice system of the largest democracy."
"In the annals of judiciary, the unfortunate comments have no parallel and are indelible scar on justice system of the largest democracy. Urgent rectification steps are called for as these have potentially serious consequences on democratic values and security of the country."
"By no stretch these observations, which are not part of the judicial order, can be sanctified on the plank of judicial propriety and fairness. Such outrageous transgressions are without parallel in the annals of Judiciary," it added.
The statement further alleged, "Nupur was defacto denied access to judiciary and in the process, there was an outrage on the preamble, spirit and essence of the Constitution of India."
The statement has been signed by 15 former judges, 77 ex-all India services officers and 25 veterans.

The signatories include former chief justice of the Bombay High Court Kshitij Vyas, former Gujarat High Court judge S M Soni, former Rajasthan High Court judges R S Rathore and Prashant Agarwal and former Delhi High Court judge S N Dhingra.
Former IAS officers R S Gopalan and S Krishna Kumar, ambassador (retired) Niranjan Desai, former DGPs S P Vaid and B L Vohra, Lt Gen V K Chaturvedi (retired) and Air Marshall (retired) S P Singh have also signed the statement which said the SC observations are not in sync with judicial ethos.
On July 1, the top court had come down heavily on Nupur for her controversial comments against Prophet Muhammad. The top court observed that her "loose tongue" has "set the entire country on fire" and that she is "single-handedly responsible for what is happening in the country".

The bench hearing the case also refused to entertain her plea for clubbing of FIRs lodged in various states against her for the remark. The bench held that the comment was made either for cheap publicity, political agenda or some nefarious activities.
The signatories also defended Nupur's plea for clubbing all FIRs against her citing previous orders of the apex court.
"Legal fraternity is bound to be surprised and shocked at the observation that an FIR should lead to arrest. The observations on other agencies in the country, without notice to them, are indeed worrisome and alarming, the veterans wrote in the open letter.
Nupur's comments against the Prophet during a TV debate had triggered protests across the country and drew sharp reactions from many Gulf countries. The BJP subsequently expelled her from the party.
(With inputs from agencies)