The Union Government has notified the appointment of BJP-linked lawyer Lekshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri, on Monday, 6 February, as an Additional Judge of the Madras High Court.
Why does this matter? This comes amid widespread flak from several Madras Bar Association lawyers against her position in the Bharatiya Janata party and her 'hate speeches' on Muslims and Christians.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Monday also agreed to list a plea against her appointment for this coming Friday.
The backstory: On 17 January, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended Victoria Gowri for judgeship at the Madras High Court.
Following this, on 1 February, Madras High Court Bar advocates wrote to President Draupadi Murmu and the Collegium, demanding that her recommendation be withdrawn and the President return the file recommending Gowri's appointment.
Gowri's BJP links:
She was appointed state in-charge of the BJP's Kerala Mahila Morcha, or women’s wing, on 8 October 2010.
She campaigned for the national party in the run-up to the 2014 general election in Tamil Nadu.
Moreover, an unverified Twitter account allegedly belonging to Gowri claimed in its bio that she was the National General Secretary of BJP Mahila Morcha.
Gowri's Controversial Comments:
"If the Islamic terror is green terror, the Christian terror is white terror."Lekshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri
"Both (Christian groups and Islamic groups) are equally dangerous in the context of conversion, especially Love Jihad."Lekshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri
These and other comments made by her are part of her interviews titled 'The More Threat to National Security & Peace?Jihad or Christian Missionary?’ and ‘Cultural genocide by Christian Missionaries in Bharat.'
She also wrote a piece for an RSS publication on 1 October 2012, which said:
“But not a finger is lifted to stop allured and coerced conversions and to prevent Christians from conceiving communal conflicts,” and “for fifty year the marginalised Hindus have been fighting the mighty Christian diocese. But now the situation is out of control.”
What has the bar association said? The members of the Bar association who wrote to the President had said that her appointment could lead to bias and obstruct justice for minority communities.
"Can a litigant belonging to Muslim of Christian community ever hope to get justice in her court, if she becomes a judge?"Madras Bar Association Laywers
“We write, with a sense of foreboding, in these troubled times, when the judiciary is facing unprecedented and unwarranted criticism from the executivive, as we are apprehensive that appointments such as these may pave the way for undermining the independence of the judiciary," the signatories to the letter added.
(With inputs from LiveLaw)
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