Hours after former Supreme Court Judge S Abdul Nazeer was appointed as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh, left-liberals took to social media to cast aspersions on the integrity of the Judiciary.
Leading the pack of wolves was none other than ‘journalist’ Rajdeep Sardesai. “Sunday musing: A month after Justice Abdul Nazeer retires, the SC judge is made Andhra governor. Shouldn’t there be a minimum cooling off period of at least a year before a retired judge gets a constitutional sinecure?” he wrote.
By citing the fact that S Abdul Nazeer was a part of the constitutional bench that delivered the Ayodhya verdict in 2019, the liberal ecosystem is suggesting a collusion between the Judiciary and the Legislature.
Sunday musing:A month after Justice Abdul Nazeer retires, the SC judge is made Andhra governor. Shouldn’t there be a minimum cooling off period of at least a year before a retired judge gets a constitutional sinecure? Note: Justice Nazeer was part of unanimous Ayodhya judgement.
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) February 12, 2023
“Willing to twist your arms? Reward guaranteed…” wrote one ‘wannabe journalist’ Nagendar Sharma. Despite the best attempts by the ecosystem to suggest a nefarious agenda, it must be mentioned that India has a long history of judges taking up post-retirement jobs.
Willing to twist your own arms ?
— Nagendar Sharma (@sharmanagendar) February 12, 2023
Reward guaranteed….
Gogoi – Rajya Sabha Member and relief from sexual harassment charges.
Ashok Bhushan – Chairman, NCLAT
Abdul Nazeer – Governor.
Bobde – wait listed.
D Y Chandrachud – ……#AyodhyaPaysAll pic.twitter.com/T6qSjzdEMF
The Case of Koka Subba Rao and Mohammed Hidayatullah
The 9th Chief Justice of India Koka Subba Rao, who was at the helm of safeguarding the Fundamental Rights of citizens from the Legislature in the infamous Golaknath Vs State of Punjab case, resigned 3 months before his scheduled retirement on July 14, 1967, to contest for the post of President.
He was backed by the leader of the Opposition, Minoo Masani and secured 44% votes against Congress’ Presidential candidate Dr Zakir Hussain.
Mohammed Hidayatullah, the 11th Chief Justice of India, served as the Acting President from 20 July 1969 to 24 August 1969 and from 6 October 1982 to 31 October 1982.
He also served as the Vice President of India between 1979 to 1984, despite having turned down requests for Presidential candidacy on three occasions.
Justice Hegde and his switches between Legislature and Judiciary
Justice Kawdoor Sadananda Hegde served as a member of the Rajya Sabha before his stint at the Mysore High Court. He was a Judge at the court for 9 years before being appointed the first Chief Justice of the Delhi and Himachal Pradesh High Court in 1966.
A year later, Justice Hegde was sworn into the Supreme Court. He became a part of the majority judgement that laid down the “basic structure doctrine” in the Kesavananda Bharati vs the State Of Kerala case.
The judgement in the case asserted that any amendment that is directed to alter the basic structure of the Constitution can be nullified by the apex court. An agitated Indira Gandhi thus superseded him to make AN Ray the Chief Justice.
Justice Hegde resigned during the Emergency and contested from a Janata Party ticket to defeat the Congress candidate from South Bangalore in the 1977 Lok Sabha elections. He even went on to become the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
The curious cases of Rangnath Mishra and Baharul Islam
Rangnath Misra, the 21st Chief Justice of India, who gave a clean chit to the Congress party in the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots served as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from the Congress Party between 1998 and 2004.
Justice Baharul Islam was a member of the Rajya Sabha from the Congress Party between 1962 to 1972. Following his resignation, he became a judge in the Guwahati High Court.
After he retired from the High Court, he was appointed to the Supreme Court by Indira Gandhi in 1980. He then resigned in 1983 to become a Rajya Sabha member again from the Congress party.
Justice Abhay Thipsay, who heard cases such as Sohrabuddin fake encounter case and retired in 2017, announced his decision to join the Congress party in 2018. Justice Thipsay was the same judge who convicted 9 out of the 17 accused in the Best Bakery case.
Other instances that set the precedent of post-retirement jobs
Justice (retd) Fatima Beevi served as the Governor of Tamil Nadu from 1997 to 2001, after retiring from the apex court in 1992. She was the first woman justice on the Supreme Court.
Justice (retd) Saiyid Fazl Ali was appointed as the governor of Odisha on June 1952, just a month after his tenure ended as a judge in the Supreme Court. He also worked as the governor of Assam between 1956 and 1959.
Vijay Bahuguna, who became the 6th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand from a BJP ticket, also served as a Judge in Allahabad High Court and Bombay High Court. Palanisamy Sathasivam, the 40th Chief Justice of India, was appointed the Governor of Kerala by the BJP Government in September 2014.
When Congress made a hullabaloo over the issue, Manish Tewari publicly acknowledged that there was “no constitutional or legal bar” on a former Chief Justice of India to accept the position of a governor.
Retired Judges do not require a cooling period
While the Indian Constitution (Article 220) restricts a retired Judge from practising law in the same Court in which he was a judge, there are no restrictions that bar him from seeking employment, joining a political party or getting elected/nominated to the Indian Parliament.
It is important to mention that there is no minimum time limit (commonly referred to as the “cooling period”) before a Judge can ride the political bandwagon, following his retirement.
While there is no legal hurdle in the appointment of Justice (retd.) Nazeer as Governor of Andhra Pradesh, will not deter the Opposition from building a fake narrative of ‘quid pro quo’ as they did in the case of Ranjan Gogoi 3 years ago.
