Thambi Durai denies AIADMK hand
in Shivappa's termination
The All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has denied a hand in the abrupt end to the career of Justice C Shivappa of the Madras high court.
"The decision to retire Justice Shivappa was taken by the President of India in consultation with Chief Justice of India A S Anand. Neither my ministry nor my party had anything to do with it," said M Thambi Durai, minister for law, justice, and company affairs and a senior AIADMK politician.
Justice Shivappa was ordered to retire from the Madras high court after it was discovered that he had passed the age of superannuation.
His birth records showed that he was born on December 11, 1936. A high court judge has to retire on reaching the age of 62, which, for Justice Shivappa, happened on December 11, 1998.
The judge, however, claims that his date of birth is December 11, 1938.
In the Madras high court, the judge was hearing cases relating to the corruption charges against J Jayalalitha, the AIADMK general secretary and former Tamil Nadu chief minister.
Justice Shivappa's sudden removal resulted in lawyers of the Madras high court boycotting the court's proceedings yesterday. The advocates claimed the government was interfering with the independence of the judiciary.
Thambi Durai deplored the violence of the Madras advocates. "Everything today is politicised," he lamented, and appealed to the lawyers to respect the decision of the President and the Chief Justice of India.
Thambi Durai said a petition against Justice Shivappa had been filed with the President way back in November 1997, when the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition, of which the AIADMK is a constituent, was not even in power.
"The plea was sent to the President who then consulted the former and present Chief Justices of India, and on their advice reached a decision. He acted on his own accord under Article 273 of the Constitution," he explained.
The law minister said the sole function of his ministry was to forward the President's message to Justice Shivappa and the chief justice of the Madras high court.
He also dismissed a suggestion that Justice Shivappa's retirement would have a positive impact on the cases pending against Jayalalitha. "Is Shivappa the only judge in the Madras high court?" he asked. "There are other good justices to ensure that the law takes its own course."
All the other cases against Jayalalitha are on hold since the Supreme Court is to hear a plea against their transfer from the special courts set up by the state government to regular sessions courts.
Thambi Durai said his ministry is looking into the validity of Justice Shivappa's judicial pronouncements. "We are examining whether all his judgments and directives, or only those after he crossed the age of retirement, are valid in law," he said.
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