Jodhpur, Mar 5: The outgoing chief justice of the Rajasthan High Court, Justice Akil Abdulhamid Kureshi, on Saturday said the government's negative perception about him is a certificate of his judicial independence.
Justice Kureshi made the remark referring to some observations made by a former chief justice of India in his biography, explaining why the Rajasthan CJ's recommendations on the appointment of the CJs of the Madhya Pradesh and Tripura high courts were rejected.
Addressing the members of the bar and bench of the Rajasthan High Court on the last day of his office, outgoing Chief Justice Kureshi also expressed surprise over the alleged heavy pruning by the Supreme Court the list of advocates sent by high courts for their appointment as judges.
This will lead to a dearth of bright judicial minds on the bench, he cautioned.
Though Justice Kureshi did not name the former CJI, he apparently referred to former CJI Ranjan Gogoi, whose autobiography released last December, had reportedly mentioned about the much-talked-about transfers of Justice Kureshi, then a judge of the Gujarat High Court and Justice V K Tahilramani, the then CJ of the Madras High Court, amongst others.
I have not read the biography but going by the media reports, he has made certain disclosures regarding changing of my recommendations for the CJs of MP and Tripura. It is stated that the government had some negative perceptions about me based on my judicial opinions, he said.
As a judge of a constitutional court whose most primary duty is to protect the fundamental and human rights of citizens, I consider it as a certificate of independence, he added.
Referring to the elevation of advocates to the bench, Justice Kureshi said he was surprised to see the list of advocates recommended by high courts for appointment to the bench being pruned heavily by the Supreme court.
Whatever is the reason for this difference in the perception between high courts and the Supreme Court, it must be resolved quickly or else we will find it increasingly difficult to have good advocates to join the bench, he said.
While talking about his stint as the Rajasthan High Court's chief justice, Justice Kureshi also mentioned the shortage of judges, attributing it to the burden and burnout effect on judges .
When I joined, there were only 36 judges. I do not think this number was ever crossed. During this period, work has increased manifold. It puts an inhuman burden on judges and it has its burnout effects, he said.
Kureshi, who had joined the Rajasthan High Court as its chief justice on October 12, 2021, said the very reason for the existence of courts was to protect the rights of citizens .
He stated that far more than any direct affront, it is stealthily encroaching on the democratic values and rights of citizens, which should worry all, he said.
Justice Kureshi also called upon young lawyers to live by principles, and said, Success is sweeter when you reach your destination through a straight path and failure as a product of principled living was more satisfying than success founded on compromises.
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New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Wednesday claimed irregularities in voter registration in Rae Bareli, Wayanad, Diamond Harbour and Kannauj parliamentary seats and asked Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Abhishek Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav to resign as Lok Sabha MPs, alleging they secured victory in elections with "vote chori".
Giving a slide-show presentation on the issue at the BJP headquarters here on an 'analysis' of electoral rolls in these constituencies represented by opposition leaders, former Union minister Anurag Thakur also flagged "irregularities" in the voter registration in Kolathur assembly seat in Tami Nadu and in Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh and asked Chief Minister and DMK supremo M K Stalin and SP leader Dimple Yadav to resign for "rigging" election.
He slammed the Congress, TMC, Samajwadi Party and DMK leaders for raising questions on the Election Commission and accused them of running a vicious propaganda against the special intensive revision (SIR) of the elector rolls, which is currently underway in Bihar and would be launched in other states, to protect their "vote bank of illegal Bangladeshi infiltration" and other "intruders"
"Seeing this 'shor' (hue and cry) being made by the opposition, it now seems that 'chor machaye shor'", he said, suggesting those who are in the wrong are now crying foul.
"Rae Bareli, Wayanad, Kannuaj, to Diamond Harbour -- everywhere one question is coming up -- why did they make fake voters. Will they resign for indulging in 'vote chori' and protecting intruders?" Thakur said.
Levelling allegations of "vote chori", Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had on Thursday, through a presentation at a press conefrence, cited data from the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to claim that over 1 lakh votes were "stolen" in Mahadevapura assembly segment in Karnataka through five types of manipulation, including duplicate voters, fake and invalid addresses, single-address voters.
On Tuesday, opposition leaders took out a protest march from the Parliament House to the Election Commission's headquarters here on the issue but were stopped and briefly detained by the police.
The Congress on Wednesday stepped up its campaign against alleged 'vote chori' by releasing a new video depicting how "fake votes" were being cast, with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge asking people to raise their voice and save constitutional institutions from the "clutches of the BJP".
Gandhi also shared the minute-long video and said, "Aapke vote ki chori aapke adhikar ki chori, aapki pehchaan ki chori hai".