Lawyer seeks resignation of madras HC judge for praising BJP’s TN chief

K Bharathi, a lawyer, has written to the Chief Justice of the Madras high court, Munishwar Nath Bhandari, calling for the resignation of a judge on the Madurai bench of the Madras high court, justice G R Swaminathan , who appreciated Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai in a July 27 order, on the grounds that the judiciary should be independent and cannot support any party or party leader.

Bharathi who represents the Democratic Advocates’ Association said that justice Swaminathan’s continuation is a threat to the judiciary’s independence as it would cause fear among the public who want to raise issues against the BJP. “Judiciary is an independent state organ. It cannot be a supporter of any party or leader of any party. It must uphold democracy and function without partiality,” he wrote in his letter.

The letter is about justice Swaminathan’s July 27 order in which he complimented Annamalai for raising the issue of the fraudulent issuance of Indian passports to Indian and Sri Lankan nationals using forged documents. “I compliment Shri. K Annamalai, the State Bharatiya Janata Party President for having taken up the cause. He has played the role of a watch dog in a democracy. But for him the matter would not have come to light,” the order said.

The complainant noted that the contents of the order have been published widely. “We are not opposed to any individual person giving a statement to praise or to give a compliment to any party or leader. But a judge who is having the higher post should not give statements like this in the High Court’s order,” advocate Bharathi said.

Justice Swaminathan was recently in the news for initiating contempt proceedings against activist A Shankar who made some insinuations about the former’s order quashing an FIR in December 2021 against controversial YouTuber M Maridhas who has the backing of the BJP.