4 min readNew DelhiFeb 7, 2023 09:39 AM IST
First published on: Feb 7, 2023 at 04:11 AM IST
Advocate L Victoria Gowri will take oath as an additional judge of the Madras High Court on Tuesday, a day the Supreme Court has set aside to hear a petition challenging the SC Collegium’s recommendation elevating her to the High Court.
According to a circular issued by the Madras High Court, Acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, T Raja, will administer the oath of office to Gowri and four others at 10.30 am Tuesday.
The SC Collegium headed by CJI Chandrachud had on January 17 proposed Gowri’s name, along with that of the others, for elevation to the Madras High Court.
The plea against her elevation accused Gowri of exhibiting “strong prejudice” against citizens on the ground of their religious affiliation “through…vitriolic comments” and said “such prejudice will threaten their access to justice”. It also questioned her political affinity, saying she has been a National General Secretary of the Bharatiya Mahila Morcha, the women’s wing of the BJP.
The matter was first mentioned before the Supreme Court on Monday morning and the court posted it for hearing on February 10. However, with news of the government notifying her appointment as an Additional Judge of the HC coming in after that, the petitioners approached the court again in the afternoon, following which the court posted the matter for hearing on Tuesday by a bench of Justices Sanjeev Khanna and M M Sundaresh.
Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud told Senior Advocate Raju Ramachandran, who mentioned the plea for urgent hearing, that some developments had taken place and “the collegium has taken cognisance of what was drawn to our attention or came to our notice after we formulated our recommendations on the recommendation of the…Collegium of the Madras High Court”.
“Since we have taken cognisance of certain developments which have taken place thereafter, what we can do is list this matter tomorrow morning…I will constitute a bench. Let it go before the appropriate bench tomorrow morning,” he said.
The bench, also comprising Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala, then ordered to list the matter “before the appropriate bench on February 7, 2023”.
Last week, a group of 21 lawyers of the Madras High Court wrote to the President of India and the Supreme Court collegium, accusing Gowri, an Assistant Solicitor General of India for the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, of “hate speech and regressive views” against Christians and Muslims, and asking for her name to be withdrawn from the list of those recommended for appointment as judges to the High Court.
Gowri’s recommendation was made on the same day that the SC Collegium reiterated its earlier recommendation to appoint advocate R John Sathyan as judge of the Madras HC. The Collegium made public the government’s reservations on appointing Sathyan, flagging that he had “shared an article which was critical of the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi”.
The Centre’s decision to appoint five new judges, including Gowri, to the HC on Monday means that Sathyan, even if appointed, will be junior to them.
While recommending Sathyan, the SC Collegium had on January 17, said that Sathyan be given precedence for appointment as judge of the Madras High Court. “The Collegium, therefore, resolves to reiterate its recommendation dated 16 February 2022 for appointment of Shri R. John Sathyan, Advocate, as a Judge of the Madras High Court. The Collegium further recommends that he be given precedence in the matter of appointment as Judge over certain names separately recommended today by this Collegium for appointment as Judges of the Madras High Court,” the collegium had said.
The SC collegium headed by CJI Chandrachud had on January 17 proposed Gowri’s name, along with that of the others, for elevation to the Madras High Court. 
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