All five who took oath on Tuesday will serve as additional judges for two years, and will be made permanent judges based on their performance.
Lekshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri after being sworn in as an additional judge of the Madras High Court by Acting Chief Justice T Raja on Tuesday, 7 February, 2023. (Supplied)
Lekshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri, the advocate who was caught in a controversy for her alleged anti-minority community remarks, has been sworn in as an additional judge of the Madras High Court.
Even as Victoria Gowri was taking oath on the Constitution at the Madras High Court on Tuesday, 7 February, a batch of petitions challenging her elevation was heard and dismissed by the Supreme Court.
A day earlier, on Monday, when senior advocate Raju Ramachandran mentioned an urgent hearing before the First Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud to recall the Collegium decision appointing Victoria Gowri as an additional judge of the Madras High Court, the chief justice agreed to hear the matter on Tuesday.
On the direction of the CJI, a special bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and MM Sundresh was formed and the registry released a cause list on Monday evening that the case would be heard at 9.30 am on Tuesday, as the Acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, T Raja, had called for an oath-taking ceremony for the newly appointed judges at 10.30 am that day.
Meanwhile, Justice Sundresh recused himself from the hearing as he was a consultee judge during the elevation process that considered Victoria Gowri’s name.
The retraction was conveyed to the CJI and a new bench was formed comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and BR Gavai.
The new bench started hearing the case in Delhi by 10.30 am, while Acting CJ Raja administered the oath to Gowri at 10.35 am in Chennai.
Advocate Raju Ramachandran, who appeared on behalf of the petitioner, Vaigai, submitted that it was not the political background of Gowri but her “hate speech” that was questionable.
“Hate speech, which runs completely antithetical to the Constitution. That makes her unfit to take the oath,” he said.
He also submitted that the case against Gowri being heard by the Supreme Court was brought to the knowledge of Madras High Court Acting Chief Justice Raja, but he still called for the swearing-in ceremony in haste.
He further prayed that the court stall the swearing-in ceremony, pointing out the CJI’s remark that the Collegium had taken cognizance of the issue.
Calling it “unprecedented”, the bench refused to give directions to the Collegium or halt the swearing-in ceremony.
The judges also noted that there had been instances of additional judges not being confirmed.
Meanwhile, Bar Council of India (BCI) Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra, who appeared to assist the court, submitted that there had been no complaints of misconduct against Victoria Gowri.
Recording the arguments advanced, the bench dismissed the petitions, stating that the reasons for dismissal would follow.
The ceremony started at 10.35 am in the Madras High Court and was live-streamed to the judges at the Madurai Bench of the court.
After reading the President’s warrant and the notification of appointing new judges, Acting Chief Justice T Raja called Victoria Gowri and others to take oath on the Constitution.
After taking the oath, Justice Gowri, in her address, asserted that she would dispense justice in keeping with the dreams of the makers of the Constitution.
Stating that she hailed from a very remote village, West Neiyur, in the Kanniyakumari district, and was a first-generation lawyer from a “very ordinary family”, Gowri said she bowed at the “noble feet” of her husband Thulasi Muthu Ram who stood by her in all her “experiments”, facilitating “the flow of my life like an enchanting river without stagnation”.
She also thanked former chief justice of Madras High Court, Munishwar Nath Bhandari, former acting chief justice M Duraiswami (retired), and Acting Chief Justice Raja for reposing faith in her and for recommending her name for the post of judge, and all the brother judges and the bar.
She thanked the Supreme Court judges, including CJI Chandrachud.
Quoting Swami Vivekananda, Gowri said she was conscious that she had been handed over the “greatest responsibility of being a judge” to work for the cause of the “unheard and the oppressed voices of the poorest of the poor, to liberate the marginalised, ‘scuttle’ inequalities of society, and nurture fraternity in the diverse country”.
“With all humility, I undertake to dispense justice in realising the dreams of the makers of our Constitution,” she said.
Besides Gowri, four others also took oath as additional judges of the high court.
Pillaipakkam Bahukutumbi Balaji and Kandasamy Kulandaivelu Ramakrishnan (both advocates), and Ramachandran Kalaimathi and K Govindarajan Thilakavathi (both women judicial officers) took oath as additional judges.
Advocate General R Shunmugasundaram and Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Bar Council Chairman PS Amalraj delivered welcome addresses.
All five who took oath on Tuesday would serve as additional judges for two years, and will be made permanent judges by the Supreme Court Collegium based on their performance.
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