B Sudershan Reddy, a former Supreme Court judge and the INDIA bloc's candidate for the vice-presidential election, has countered the remarks by BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, targeting him over a court verdict against the Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh.
Reddy was branded a "Naxalite supporter" by Shah after he was named the Opposition candidate for the V-P election.
"I am not bothered by the allegations. I will be scared, they thought. I am prepared to enter into a dialogue with them. All that I have to say is, 'read the judgement and then speak'… These kinds of allegations coming from one side, and the language which is being employed, is not right," Reddy said, according to The Indian Express.
Shah had said that the verdict against Salwa Judum derailed India's fight against Naxalism and set it back by several years. "Sudershan Reddy is the person who helped Naxalism. He gave the Salwa Judum judgment. If that judgement had not been given... Naxal terrorism would have ended by 2020. He is the person who, inspired by that ideology, gave the judgment," he said, adding that the militia could have wiped out Naxals in 2020 had it not been for the Supreme Court's 2011 verdict.
In his defence, Reddy had earlier said that he is not a Naxal supporter and argued that it would have been challenged by now had that been the case.
Shah's statement triggered a controversy as 18 former judges on Monday termed the remarks as a misinterpretation of the Salwa Judum judgment of the Supreme Court.
"The statement of Home Minister Amit Shah, publicly misinterpreting the judgment of the Supreme Court in the Salwa Judum case, is unfortunate. The judgment nowhere supports, either expressly or by compelling implication of its text, Naxalism or its ideology," the letter, jointly issued by 18 former jurists, said.
The letter was countered by another letter by 50 former judges said the remarks from the 18 were part of a "predictable pattern... to cloak political partisanship under language of judicial independence".
The controversy comes ahead of the vice-presidential election scheduled for Septemener 9 where Reddy is up against former Maharashtra Governor CP Radharishnan, the NDA's candidate for the post.
Commenting on Radhakrishnan's campaign for the coming election, Reddy said that his rival candidate was shying away from a constitutional debate with him.
"I don’t know where the other candidate is… Every day, I am speaking to the media. A good debate would ensue only if he too speaks out. But he is silent," Reddy said. "A debate is lacking."
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