The appointment of lawyer Aarti Arun Sathe as a judge in the Bombay High Court has stirred up a political storm with the opposition highlighting her tenure as a spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Maharashtra unit.
Sathe was among the three lawyers—the others being Ajit Bhagwanrao Kadethankar and Sushil Manohar Ghodeswar—whose appointments as judges of the high court were approved by the Collegium on July 28.
Sathe was the party spokesperson from February 2023 to January 2024. She also served as the legal head of Mumbai BJP. On January 2024, she quit her posts and the primary membership of the party, citing “personal and professional” reasons.
However, both the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are not convinced as they claimed that Sathe’s previous stint in the saffron party would impact the impartiality of the judicial system.
“If a person who has been a BJP spokesperson becomes a judge, will the public receive justice and will the Constitution be protected?,” asked Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar.
NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar also echoed similar sentiments and said her appointment would impact the impartiality of the judicial system.
Pawar, while stating that he was not objecting to Sathe’s qualifications, sought a reconsideration of the decision and said the Chief Justice should provide guidance on this matter.
Rajya Sabha member and All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) spokesperson Saket Gokhale also flagged the issue of the former BJP spokesperson being elevated as a HC judge.
The BJP, however, defended Sathe’s appointment, noting that she had resigned from the party last year.
“It has been one-and-a-half years since Sathe resigned from the BJP. She now has no connection with the BJP. The Congress and Rohit Pawar are criticizing the collegium decision,” said BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye.
