Former Supreme Court justice Madan Lokur has warned of the possibility of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) “spying” on judges.
Lokur wrote about the issue in an article in the Indian Express, which was published on Wednesday. Lokur, who retired in December 2018, was one of four Supreme Court judges who had addressed a press conference in January that year, voicing concern about the way the top court was being run by then chief justice of India Dipak Misra.
In his article in the Indian Express, Lokur referred to controversies regarding the transfers of two High Court justices—Justice Akil Kureshi (of Gujarat HC) and chief justice Vijaya Tahilramani (Madras High Court). Tahilramani resigned on September 7 after being transferred to the post of chief justice of the Meghalaya High Court.
Lokur argued the transfer of Tahilramani raised questions in the “context of the independence of the judiciary”. Referring to a media report on the chief justice of India asking the CBI to investigate allegations raised against Tahilramani in an IB report, Lokur wrote, “Was she spied upon by the Intelligence Bureau?”
Lokur questioned in the article “Should the IB be blindly believed.” He then asked, “Isn’t it somewhat unusual and frightening that judges, expected to render judgment without fear or favour, are subject to surveillance by the IB? Can their independence be guaranteed under these circumstances?”
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Lokur's article emphasised the risk of the government effectively pushing a “new” National Judicial Appointments Commission, which was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2015 on the grounds it would hamper the independence of the judiciary. Lokur argued the Supreme Court collegium, which recommends judicial appointments, was dependent on the government for information on candidates. Lokur wrote, “It seems to me that the unconstitutional NJAC is rearing its head and is now Frankenstein’s monster.”
