Special bench of SC to hear plea to restrain Gowri from taking oath as HC judge

A special bench of the Supreme Court is set to hear on Tuesday a plea for restraining lawyer Lekshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri from taking oath as a judge of the Madras High Court.

A special bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai would hear the matter at 10:30 am.

On Monday, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud had in the forenoon put the plea of three Madras HC lawyers opposing the proposed appointment of Gowri for hearing on February 10 but later advanced it to February 7 after senior advocate Raju Ramachandran again mentioned it, saying the Centre has notified her appointment.

The petitioner lawyers, Anna Mathew, Sudha Ramalingam and D Nagasaila, in their plea referred to the alleged hate speeches made by Gowri against Muslims and Christians.

The plea said, ”The petitioners are seeking appropriate interim orders injuncting the 4th Respondent (Gowri) from taking the oath of office as a judge of the High Court, in view of the grave threat to the independence of the judiciary.”