Centre Appoints Victoria Gowri As Madras HC Judge; Within Hours Supreme Court Grants Urgent Hearing

This morning (6 February), the Centre notified the appointment of 13 judges for three High Courts, i.e., the Allahabad High Court, the Karnataka High Court and the Madras High Court.

While six advocates have been appointed as Additional Judges in the Allahabad High Court and two Advocates have been appointed as Additional Judges in the Karnataka High Court; the Madras High Court saw two judicial officers and three advocates being appointed.

In the same notification, Advocate L Victoria Gowri was also appointed as an Additional Judge of the Madras High Court.

Since the day Advocate L Victoria Gowri’s name was recommended for appointment by the Supreme Court Collegium, there has been an outcry over her recommendation by a section of lawyers who alleged that she had affiliations to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Svayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and that she had made certain statements against religious minorities.

In the morning, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said that there were certain details regarding advocate Gowri which were not available to them at the time of her recommendation and so the Supreme Court would hear the plea by the group of lawyers on 10 February.

But things changed soon as Gowri's name was on the list of newly appointed judges that was put out on Twitter by Law Minister Kiren Rijiju.

Advocates Raju Ramachandran and Sanchita Ain, representing the group of lawyers, then went back to the Court and asked for an urgent hearing, saying that it was an 'extraordinary emergency.'

Chief Justice Chandrachud granted their request and said that a bench would be constituted to hear the matter tomorrow, i.e., 7 February.

Also Read: Victoria Gowri's Record As An Able Advocate And Conscientious Citizen Shows Why 'Communalism' Charges Against Her Are Completely And Utterly Baseless