The Newshour Debate: Gopal Subramanium vs Government - Part 1 (25th June 2014)

Описание: Feeling "let down" by the government and the Supreme Court over rejection of his name, senior advocate Gopal Subramanium has asked the Chief Justice of India to withdraw the recommendation of his candidature as judge of the apex court. He has written a letter to the Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice R M Lodha requesting him to "withdraw" the recommendation for his elevation as judge of the apex court. He is said to be of the view that the candidature of a judge of the Supreme Court should be decided in some kind of sacredness and should not be bashed about. The name of 56-year-old Subramanium, who served as the Solicitor General during the previous UPA regime, was recommended by the collegium for elevation to the apex court bench along with some other names. But the government rejected his name and returned the file over his name while accepting the recommendation related to others including another lawyer Rohinton Nariman. "In the circumstances, he (Subramanium) does not feel that his name should be reconsidered for elevation to the judge of the Supreme Court. So he has written a letter to CJI to withdraw his candidature as the judge of the Supreme Court," his office said. Upset over the media reports, Subramanium maintained that his conduct was clear and he had written to the Law Minister Kapil Sibal in the previous government about the extent of criminality in the 2G case that was hidden by the government when he was its counsel. Subramanium was assisting the Supreme Court as amicus curaie in Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case in which BJP leader Amit Shah came under scrutiny. The government had earlier cleared the names of Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Arun Mishra, Orissa High Court Chief Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and senior advocate Rohinton Nariman for elevation to the Supreme Court.

The Government however refused to react to charges by noted lawyer Gopal Subramanium that his elevation as Supreme Court judge was stalled by it and he was being "targeted" because of his independence and integrity. "I don't think it is appropriate for me as the Law Minister to make a comment on the matter. As far as Mr Gopal Subramanium's public comment is concerned, we have no comment to offer," Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said. "The appointment of SC judges being a sensitive matter, it will not be appropriate or desirable for me to make a comment and I don't wish to," he added. He mentioned that the government has a role in the appointment but he would not comment. Asked about Congress attack on the government over the issue, Prasad hit back by reminding about the Emergency period during which "havoc" was played with the judiciary. He made the mention of Emergency in the context of its anniversary which falls tomorrow. "It would suffice to remind the Congress party that today is June 25 and tomorrow the 26th. It was almost 40 years ago that Emergency was imposed in the country (by the then Congress government)," the Minister said. Congress leader Anand Sharma earlier alleged that the Modi government wants a "committed judiciary". Reminding Sharma about Emergency, Prasad said, "How were judges superseded at that time and what kind of havoc was created with the institution of judiciary by the Congress government then is well known."

In a debate moderated by TIMES NOW's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, panelists -- Gopal Jain, Senior Advocate, Supreme court; Brijesh Kalappa, Spokesperson, Congress; Gaurav Bhatia, Former Ass Secretary, SC Bar Association; Hitesh Jain, Advocate; Indira Jaising, Additional Solicitor General; Pinky Anand, Member Natl.Executive BJP & Advocate SC; Sanjay Hegde, Senior Advocate, SC -- discuss whether Gopal Subramanium is being purged because he's not 'convenient'.