Fifteen retired judges, 77 former bureaucrats and 25 former officers of the armed forces have issued an open statement against the “unfortunate and unprecedented” comments made by a Supreme Court Bench of Justices Surya Kant and J.B. Pardiwala while hearing a plea filed by former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, who is facing criminal action following her alleged televised remarks on Prophet Muhammed.
Refusing to entertain her plea to club the multiple first information reports (FIR) registered against her in various States, the Vacation Bench had made scathing oral remarks about Ms. Sharma, including that she was "single-handedly responsible" for the violent protests which followed.
The open statement said the remarks from the Bench had "sent shockwaves in the country and outside".
"By no stretch these observations, which are not part of the judicial order, can be sanctified on the plank of judicial propriety and fairness. Such outrageous transgressions are without parallel in the annals of judiciary," the statement said.
The observations made had "no connect jurisprudentially with the issue raised in the petition".
The statement goes so far as to say that the court's observations could be perceived as a "virtual exoneration of the dastardliest beheading at Udaipur in broad daylight".
"In the annals of judiciary, the unfortunate comments have no parallel and are indelible scar on justice system of the largest democracy. Urgent rectification steps are called for as these have potentially serious consequences on democratic values and security of the country," the statement said.
Ms. Sharma, by approaching the top court to club the FIRs registered, had only sought to exercise her fundamental right against double jeopardy under Article 20(2) of the Constitution. She was facing separate prosecution for the same cause of action.
"The Supreme Court instead of safeguarding the fundamental right of the petitioner (Sharma) forced the petitioner to withdraw and approach the High Court knowing fully well that High Court does not have jurisdiction to transfer or club the FIRs registered in other States," the statement said.
