Ahead of Kerala assembly elections, two former judges of Kerala High Court joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the party’s Vijaya Yatra function at Tripunithura, Kerala.
As per the sources, retired judges from the High Court, two former IPS officers, and few members from transgender community will be inducted in the party soon.
The retired judges include PN Ravindran and V Chitambaresh. 18 other members have also joined the party including some Mahila congress workers.
Justice PN Ravindran served as the Kerala High Court judge from 2007 to 2018 and Justice V Chitambaresh served as a Kerala High Court judge until 2019. Both the judges were in news over their letter to Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath in support of the “Love Jihad” law.
Last month, another retired judge of Kerala High Court, Justice B Kemal Pasha expressed his interest in joining politics if Congress led United Democratic Front offered him seat in Ernakulam district.
Pasha’s retirement speech in 2018 led to a controversy as he mentioned the nepotism in judges’ appointments in connection to the Collegium recommendations and post retirement jobs. He went on to comment that some recent events at the time had diminished the glory of the Kerala High Court.
Justice Ravindran criticised his words and cautioned against those seeking publicity from denigrating and maligning the institution. “The High Court of Kerala is manned by a team of honest and erudite judges who work sincerely and devote their full time and attention to their work, which by its very nature is onerous. They never seek publicity and do nothing that would give room for speculation and gossip as otherwise it would erode the faith of the common man in the institution of judiciary,” he said.
Justice Chitambaresh also hit the headlines days before his retirement during her speech at the Tamil Brahmin’s Global Meet. During his speech, he urged the Brahmin community to agitate for the economic reservation, rather than communal or caste reservation. He stated that the Brahmin community is not vocal about its demands. “Persons with the qualities of a Brahmin should always be at the helm of affairs,” said Justice Chitambaresh.
He further emphasized that considering his constitutional post, he is not directly expressing his opinions on issues of reservation.
