Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday criticised a group of retired judges for raising objections to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks against Opposition vice-presidential candidate B Sudershan Reddy in connection with the 2011 Salwa Judum judgment.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Rijiju accused the former judges of running a “signature campaign” against Shah.
“This is a Vice-Presidential election. Why do retired judges want to get into it? Writing letters and running campaigns against the Home Minister is not right. It gives the impression that they carried ideological biases even during their tenure,” he said.
The controversy stems from Shah’s criticism of the Opposition for nominating Justice Reddy, whom he described as a “left-wing sympathiser.” Justice Reddy, along with Justice SS Nijjar, had co-authored the July 2011 verdict that declared Salwa Judum—a state-backed vigilante movement in Bastar, Chhattisgarh—illegal and unconstitutional.
Earlier, Hitesh Jain, member of the 23rd Law Commission of India, also hit out at retired judges such as Justices Abhay Oka, Madan B Lokur, S Muralidhar, and Sanjib Banerjee, accusing them of acting like “political activists.” In a post on X, Jain called their support for Justice Reddy “partisan behaviour.”
Meanwhile, former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi sided with the 56 retired judges who defended Shah, stating their stance was “more appropriate” than that of the 18 retired judges who opposed him. Rohatgi maintained that once judges enter politics, their past judgments can naturally be debated and criticised.
