(The indian express)
 |
| Sathasivan keeps his fingers crossed. |
Protesting against the appointment of former Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam as the Kerala Governor, the Congress on Tuesday questioned the reason behind the decision, asking if he was being “honoured” because he had done “some work” which had “pleased” Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah and “gladdened their hearts”.
Asking the NDA government to explain what prompted it to choose the “most recently retired” CJI over many of his predecessors, Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said, “This raises a question. Had he (Sathasivam) done some work which has pleased them? Prime Minister Modi is pleased, Amit Shah is pleased… for which he (Sathasivam) is being honoured?”
He was responding to a question on whether Sathasivam was being given the gubernatorial assignment for granting relief to Shah in a fake encounter case last year. A bench led by Sathasivam had quashed the CBI’s FIR against Shah in the Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter case.
“Arun Jaitley, as Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, had repeatedly said that retired judges of Supreme Court, let alone the Chief Justice, should not be given any office or position. So the BJP should now clarify why have they made a departure from their stated position… why only an exception (was made) here,” said Sharma.
Kerala Bar Council passed a resolution against appointing the former CJI P Sathasivam as Governor of Kerala.