Former Supreme Court judge, Justice B. Sudershan Reddy, on Thursday filed his nomination in the vice presidential election. His entry into the electoral arena has made the contest for second top post in the country an interesting one.
Justice Reddy, who retired in 2011, took the electoral plunge rather belatedly, but it’s not unprecedented. Former Supreme Court judges have stepped into the political spotlight, contesting for the highest constitutional offices in the country — the President and Vice President — and even parliamentary seats.
First judge to contest presidential polls was Justice K. Subba Rao who served as the 9th Chief Justice of India. He had resigned in order to contest the election in 1967.
Rao is best remembered for his bold decision in Golaknath v. State of Punjab (1967) case, where he led a majority judgment that held that fundamental rights under the Constitution could not be amended by Parliament, a decision that shaped India's constitutional understanding.
Shortly after delivering this judgment, Rao resigned to contest the fourth presidential election as the joint opposition candidate. Despite the backing of several non-Congress parties, he lost to Dr Zakir Husain, the Congress candidate, marking a rare but unsuccessful leap from the bench to Rashtrapati Bhavan.
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After Rao, it was the turn of Justice H.R. Khanna, another key figure of Indian judiciary. Known for his judicial stance during the Emergency era, Khanna was the lone dissenter in the infamous ADM Jabalpur v. Shiv Kant Shukla (1976) case, where he upheld the right to habeas corpus even during the Emergency, famously stating that the Constitution does not permit life and liberty to be at the mercy of the state.
Despite this principled stand, he was superseded in 1977 for the post of Chief Justice of India by Justice M.H. Beg— a move widely criticised as politically motivated.
In 1982, five years after his resignation, Khanna was nominated as the combined opposition's candidate for President of India. However, he lost to Giani Zail Singh, because of the numerical dominance of the Congress in the Parliament.
Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, known as the philosopher-judge, contested the ninth presidential polls as an independent, but lost to R. Venkataraman.
The 11th Chief Justice of India, Justice M. Hidayatullah, had a rare distinction of serving at the top three positions in the country – President, VP and CJI. He became the Vice President in 1979 unopposed, thus reflecting his widespread acceptance across the political spectrum. He had earlier served as acting President of India in 1969, when Husain died in office. The then VP V.V. Giri became the acting President, but resigned from both the posts to contested presidential polls. So, CJI Hidayatullah acted as the President from July 20 to August 24, 1969.
Later, while being VP, he again served as the acting President when the then president Giani Zail Singh travelled abroad for treatment.
