Of course the government dislikes my independence: Gopal Subramaniam

Former Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam on Wednesday withdrew his candidature for appointment as a Supreme Court judge saying he did not want to be an ‘unwelcome visitor’ to a bench.

In an interview to CNN-IBN, Subramaniam said he withdrew his candidature over what he felt was a continued character assassination and a malicious attempt to discredit him.

“I am known to be utterly, utterly, utterly independent, which means I am inaccessible. No judge ever wants to be an unwelcome visitor to the bench,” he said.

He slammed the present NDA government saying it appeared that they were apprehensive of his independence. “Yes of course the government has a problem with my independence… It is possible that people don’t like some names because they are independent.”

Subramaniam said he was aloof by nature and could not “go around saying pleasant things about everyone”. If picked as a judge, he would not be  sworn in to criticise the government or otherwise, he said. “If they are doing the wrong thing, I must say it’s the wrong thing,” he said, adding that he had met the PM only once and the BJP leader  had been  courteous. “I don’t have direct evidence that he’s against me,” Subramaniam said.

Asked if it was his role as the amicus curie in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, in which Modi as well as likely party  president Amit Shah are under a cloud, that was behind the BJP government opposing his candidature, Subramaniam said, “I don’t want to get entangled in any case…  I was asked to give my advice… The IB has consulted me several times even during NDA 1 and I was treated with a lot of respect.”

The former SG also had a word of advice for both, the executive and the judiciary. “I am perturbed that the processes that are to be conducted in a sacred way have been completely thrown to the winds. I’m also surprised that the judiciary did not protest what is happening… This is the first time that such segregation has happened, and I feel there has been a surrender of independence by the judiciary,” he said.

“To the executive, I want to say that the standard belief that judges must agree and go along with you is extraneous to parliamentary democracy. To the judiciary, I want to say that you must take a stand…”

Earlier today, in a letter to the Chief Justice of India, Subramaniam said: “I’m fully conscious that my independence as a lawyer is causing apprehensions that I will not toe the government line. This factor has been decisive in refusing to appoint me.”

He also said that there was a malicious campaign out to discredit him and that all charges against him are false. “It’s a sad day for judiciary that the judiciary has been compromised.”

Gopal Subramanium’s letter to CJI by Firstpost