Centre Notifies Appointment Of Advocate L Victoria Gowri As Additional Judge Of Madras High Court

The Central Government has notified the appointment of Advocate L Victoria Gowri as an Additional Judge of the Madras High Court. The development comes amid widespread backlash over reports about her affiliation to BJP and certain statements made about Muslims and Christians surfaced.

“We write, with a sense of foreboding, in these troubled times, when the judiciary is facing unprecedented and unwarranted criticism from the executive, as we are apprehensive that appointments such as these may pave the way for undermining the independence of the judiciary. It is extremely critical, at this juncture, to safeguard the institution from being weakened by its own administrative action,” a group of advocates earlier wrote to the President and the SC Collegium.

Meanwhile, a writ petition has also been filed in the Supreme Court against her appointment. CJI DY Chandrachud today agreed to list the matter on coming Friday.

Gowri, by her own admission, is the general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party Mahila Morcha.

The collegium, comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, and K.M. Joseph, had proposed the names of Gowri and four other lawyers for elevation to the High Court on January 17. Two of Gowri's interviews captioned ‘The More Threat to National Security & Peace?Jihad or Christian Missionary?’ and ‘Cultural genocide by Christian Missionaries in Bharat - Victoria Gowri’ surfaced in the public domain soon after.

She also wrote an article titled ‘Aggressive baptising destroying social harmony’ published on October 1, 2012 in an RSS publication. It read, “But not a finger is lifted to stop allured and coerced conversions and to prevent Christians from conceiving communal conflicts,” and “for fifty years, the marginalised Hindus have been fighting the mighty Christian diocese. But now the situation is out of control.”

Update : Collegium Has Taken Cognisance Of Complaints About Victoria Gowri, Says CJI; Agrees To Hear Plea Against Her Appointment Tomorrow