TMC MP Mahua Moitra launches scathing attack on the appointment of ex-Supreme Court judge as Andhra Governor

With only 40 days until his retirement, Justice Nazeer's appointment has already sparked a major controversy

By TBT Web Desk On Feb 13, 2023

Surat : Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra launched a scathing attack on the Centre slamming the appointment of former Supreme Court judge S Abdul Nazeer as the new governor of Andhra Pradesh.

In a tweet, Mahua Moitra said, “Yet another SC judge appointed governor less than 2 months after retirement. Majoritarian govt doesn’t care about perception but how shameless are you, MiLord to accept it?”,.

With only 40 days until his retirement, Justice Nazeer’s appointment has already sparked a major controversy. In November 2019, he was one of five judges on the bench that issued its ruling in the case of Ayodhya’s Ram Janmabhoomi. He presided over the court that ruled in favour of Narendra Modi’s 2016 demonetisation initiative. Similarly, Justice Nazeer was on a bench that ruled the right to free speech in Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution is absolute and cannot be further limited.

The appointment of Justice Nazeer as governor of Andhra Pradesh has been roundly criticised, and not just by the TMC. Former Union minister Arun Jaitley was quoted on Twitter by Jairam Ramesh, general secretary (Communications) of the Congress party, saying that post-retirement employment affects one’s judgement prior to retirement.

Ramesh tweeted the video with the caption “Adequate proof of this in the past 3-4 years for sure.”

The Congress party’s spokesman, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, made the following statement at a recent press conference: “One of your (BJP) great leaders who is sadly no longer with us was Arun Jaitley. He made the statement “the desire of a post-retirement job influences pre-retirement judgements” on September 5, 2013 in the House and several times outside. It endangers the judicial system’s autonomy.”

Union law minister Kiren Rijiju hit back at the charges, saying that the ‘whole ecosystem’ was in full swing. “The Whole Eco-system is once again in full swing on the appointment of a Governor. They should better understand that, they can no more treat India as their personal fiefdom. Now, India will be guided by the people of India as per the provisions of the Constitution of India,” the minister tweeted.