Judges Call Out Amit Shah’s ‘Ideological Spin’ on Salwa Judum Ruling
(Syed Ali Taher Abedi)
Delhi 25,August,2025-A coalition of retired Supreme Court judges and senior legal professionals has issued a joint statement condemning Union Home Minister Amit Shah for his alleged misrepresentation of the Supreme Court’s 2011 judgment in the Salwa Judum case. The judgment, authored by Justice B. Sudarshan Reddy—currently the Vice-Presidential nominee backed by the INDIA bloc—was a landmark ruling on state-sponsored vigilantism. The signatories expressed concern over the politicization of judicial pronouncements and emphasized the need to uphold the integrity of the judiciary.
“We, the undersigned former members of the higher judiciary, express our deep concern over the recent remarks made by Union Home Minister Mr. Amit Shah, wherein he publicly misinterpreted the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Salwa Judum case. Such a misrepresentation of a landmark judgment is both unfortunate and misleading.
The Salwa Judum judgment, delivered by the Hon’ble Supreme Court after thorough deliberation, in no way—either explicitly or by necessary implication—offers support to Naxalism or its ideology. To suggest otherwise amounts to a distortion of the Court’s considered reasoning.
We fully recognize that campaigns for the office of the Vice President of India may legitimately involve ideological debate and political discourse. However, these must always be conducted with civility, dignity, and due regard for constitutional values. Criticism based on misinterpretation of judicial pronouncements, or the maligning of a candidate’s so-called “ideology,” lowers the tone of public dialogue and sets a dangerous precedent.
More gravely, prejudicial misinterpretation of a judgment of the Supreme Court by a senior political functionary carries the risk of producing a chilling effect on the judiciary. Such statements can undermine the confidence of judges in discharging their duties fearlessly and independently, and may ultimately shake the very foundation of judicial independence, which is a cornerstone of our democracy.
Out of respect for the high office of the Vice President of India, we believe it is imperative that political leaders and parties refrain from personal attacks, name-calling, or any attempt to distort judicial decisions for electoral gain. The dignity of our institutions and the sanctity of judicial pronouncements must remain above partisan considerations.
Former Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court Justice Govind Mathur further said that “I am of firm opinion that though a judgement is always open for critical analysis but on basis of that motives can’t be attached to a Judge who has authored the Judgment. It is the law on that a Judge adjudicate the issues before him and not his personal philosophy or political leaning. To find motive or personal interest of a Judge in a given judgment is certainly scandalous and is not permissible.”
Among signatories are former Supreme Court Judges Justices A.K Patnaik Abhay Oka Gopala Gowda Vikramjeet Sen Kurian Joseph Madan B Lokur and J. chelameshwar.
justice of High Court Govind Mathur Muralidhar Sanjib Banerjee as several retired High Court Judges such as Anjana Prakash C Praveen Ku mar A Gopal Reddy G.Raghuram K Kannan K. Chandrudu B Chandra Kailash Gambhir have also endorsed this statement
Sanjay Hegde and professor Mohan Gopal is also among the signatories.
