'Up to a judge', says Supreme Court; dismisses plea seeking 2 years as cooling off period for judges before accepting political appointment

A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia observed that the issue whether a retired judge should accept any office or not has to be left to the discretion of the judge concerned, or a law has to be enacted. The bench made it clear that this cannot be a subject matter of the Apex Court's discretion and told the petitioner's counsel that it is not willing to entertain the petition.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday dismissed a plea seeking a declaration on a cooling off period of two years for apex court and the High Court judges from accepting any political appointment, saying that it is up to a judge to take a call on accepting such appointment.

The Bombay Lawyers Association, in its plea filed through founder President and Advocate Ahmad Mehdi Abdi, referred to the appointment of former apex court Judge Justice S Abdul Nazeer as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh on February 12.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia observed that the issue whether a retired judge should accept any office or not has to be left to the discretion of the judge concerned, or a law has to be enacted. The bench made it clear that this cannot be a subject matter of the Apex Court's discretion and told the petitioner's counsel that it is not willing to entertain the petition.

During the hearing, the bench queried the petitioner’s counsel whether there is also a challenge to the appointment of Judges to the Tribunals. The petitioner’s counsel clarified that he was on political appointments which depend on the executive without a cooling-off period.

The bench asked the counsel that he does not want a particular person to become Governor. After hearing submissions, the bench dismissed the plea.

The plea said, “The acceptance of political appointments by Judges of this Hon’ble Court and High Courts after retirement without any cooling off period is adversely affecting public perception about the independence of the judiciary”.

The plea contended that after the IPL spot-fixing scandal of 2013, the apex court-mandated panel led by Justice RM Lodha had recommended a series of reforms in the BCCI. It included a cooling off period of three years for a board official after having served a fixed term of three years. "However, Justice (retired) Abdul Nazeer is the third Judge from the five-judge bench that gave the Ayodhya ruling to receive a post-retirement appointment from the government. Former Chief Justice of India (CJI), Ranjan Gogoi to the Rajya Sabha. Former CJI has presided over politically sensitive cases (Assam NRC, Sabarimala, Ayodhya, Rafale, CBI) in which the government was a party”, said the plea.

It contended that the nomination to the Rajya Sabha, just four months after his retirement, raises the question of whether should judges stop accepting post-retirement jobs offered by the government, at least for a few years after retiring, because accepting such posts could undermine the public perception about the independence of the judiciary.