Appointment of retired judges threat to judiciary

New Delhi: After the appointment of S. Abdul Nazeer as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh, the Congress said on Sunday that 'it was a threat to the judiciary'.

Congress leader and eminent lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi quoted Late Arun Jaitely, former law and Finance minister, who in 2013 had said, "pre-retirement judgements are influenced by post-retirement jobs and its threat to judiciary."

Singhvi said, "We share the same sentiments... it's a threat to the judiciary."

He said, "It is not about any particular person as I know him personally but in principle we are against the appointment of judges post-retirement."

Singhvi said, "The BJP's defence that it had happened earlier also can't be an excuse and the issue remains the same."

Jairam Ramesh, Congress MP and General Secretary in-charge Communications, shared the video clip of Arun Jaitely and said, "Adequate proof of this in the past 3-4 years for sure."

Congress MP Manickam Tagore said who work for Modi are now the Governors. "Modi work for Adani...who work for Modi are now Governors. Who works for people then? Bharat Mata ki Jai," the Congress MP tweeted.

This is the second appointment after Ranjan Gogoi, who headed the Ayodhya bench and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha.

Justice S. Abdul Nazeer, who was part of a five-member Supreme Court Bench in the Ayodhya case, retired in January.

Justice Nazeer led-Constitution Bench had upheld the 2016 demonetisation process. He had also declared that there was no need to impose additional restrictions on the free speech right of ministers, MPs, MLAs and leaders.