Bring Law to Bar Ex-Judges from Entering Politics for 2 Yrs after Demitting Office, Aggarwala to PM

In a letter to PM Modi in his personal capacity, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Adish C Aggarwala has stressed the need to frame a law to debar former judges from engaging in political activities for at least two years immediately after demitting office. He made the suggestion in the wake of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay resigning as judge of Calcutta High Court and, within a few days, joined the BJP to contest the elections.

New Delhi : Senior advocate and Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Adish C Aggarwala has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who resigned as judge of Calcutta High Court and within a few days, he joined the BJP, to consider introducing a law to debar former judges’ from engaging in political activities for at least two years immediately after demitting office as a cooling off period.

Aggarwala, who has written the letter in his personal capacity, highlighted the brooding threat to the independence of judiciary and also requested to introduce suitable amendments in statutes to provide for appointment of sitting judges’, instead of retired judges’, to tribunals and commissions, and "raising the retirement age of judges by three years".

He pointed out that on March 24, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, former Union Minister for Law & Justice, stated in the Supreme Court that “when the history of this court will be written, this period will not be golden”, during a hearing in which the Supreme Court declined to grant bail (on jurisdiction issue) to BRS leader K. Kavitha, who had been arrested by ED in the Delhi excise policy case. “It is unfortunate that a senior advocate of his repute and standing should pass such remarks when he failed to secure favourable orders from the Court. Passing such comments is not only contemptuous but also against professional ethics”, he said in the letter.

The letter also claimed that out of 21 judges, who retired from the Supreme Court from 2008 to 2011, 18 judges got assignments in different commissions and tribunals. "While the present government has not instituted this system and is following the mechanisms envisaged by statutes passed during the earlier regime, there is a crying need to amend the statutes to change the eligibility requirement from a retired judge to sitting judges or practising lawyers," said the senior advocate.

Citing Justice Gangopadhyay’s example, the letter said: “he joined the BJP and now he is contesting from Tamluk Parliamentary constituency….. the time is ripe for your government to consider introducing a law to debar former judges from engaging in political activities for at least two years immediately after demitting office as a cooling off period. This will help prioritize public trust and confidence in the judiciary over personal interests and ambitions of the judges”.

The letter said the 14th Law Commission of India report has recommended changes in the existing practice of offering post-retirement jobs for judges and it has been reasoned that such appointments affect judicial independence and erode the dignity and status of the judiciary.

"I humbly submit that the services of judges should be profitably used in courts for longer tenures by raising the retirement age of Supreme Court Judges from 65 years to 68 years and that of high court Judges from 62 years to 65 years. The retirement age of judges in the district courts may be raised from 60 years to 63 years”, said the letter.

Aggarwala stressed that when a judge resigned or retired and immediately joined active politics, it is likely to undermine public confidence in the judiciary's ability to dispense justice fairly, and further added, “unfortunately, former judges venturing into the political arena has been seen on multiple occasions in India”.

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