Supreme Court rejects petition challenging Victoria Gowri’s appointment as a judge of Madras High Court

The five judges -Justices Pankaj Mithal, Sanjay Karol, P V Sanjay Kumar, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Manoj Misra - were administered the oath during a swearing-in ceremony held in the Supreme Court premises.

The Supreme Court on February 7, refused to entertain the plea challenging the appointment of advocate L Victoria Gowri as an additional judge of the Madras High Court.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and BR Gavai observed that the challenge to her appointment is mounted on Gowri’s suitability as a judge and not on her eligibility to become the judge. Thus the bench noted that it is a subjective assessment and the court would not be able to assess this.

The Court observed that the collegium would have considered all the materials pertaining to Gowri and it would not be possible to re-examine them at this stage.

Senior Advocate Raju Ramachandran appearing for the petitioners, argued that eligibility conditions for High Court judges are laid down in Article 217 of the Constitution of India. He submitted that the Collegium’s decision making process was affected as material pertaining to Gowri, where she had made some hate speech, was not placed before it for consideration.

He said, “Those (materials) indicate a mind-set, which not in tune with ideals of the constitution. Therefore, a person who is not in sync with ideals of constitution is unfit to take oath. This person has rendered herself incapable of taking the oath by her own public utterances.”

Ramachandran argued that this was not a matter of mere political affiliation or opinions by Gowri but many of her statements amount to hate speech. The Bench however opined that the collegium would have taken such materials into consideration and passing a judicial order in this regard, would amount to questioning the Collegium's wisdom.

The Court observed that Gowri is appointed only as an additional judge and the Collegium can reconsider its decision and not make her permanent after her tenure as additional judge is over.

However, while the hearing was underway, the Acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court, administered oath to Gowri, thereby making her a judge. A sitting judge can be removed from their position only by a process of impeachment in the parliament.

The Supreme Court on February 6, agreed to hear a petition challenging the appointment of L Victoria Gowri as a judge of the Madras High Court. An urgent hearing of the case was sought in the morning of February 6, the court agreed to hear the case on February 10. However, moments after the court agreeing to hear the case, Union government notified Gowri’s appointment as a judge.  Shortly, lawyers sought for an urgent hearing in the light of her appointment being approved by the government.

Gowri has been at the centre of controversy ever since the collegium recommended her elevation to the Madras High Court on January 17. It has been alleged that Gowri had made remarks against minorities in her capacity as a worker of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Last week, a group of lawyers from Chennai wrote to the President of India and the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud registering their protest against the proposed elevation. Subsequently, some lawyers from Madurai wrote to the CJI in support of Gowri.