SC refuses to entertain plea to restrain Gowri from taking oath

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a plea seeking to restrain lawyer Lekshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri from taking oath as a judge of the Madras High Court.

''We are not entertaining the writ petition. Reasons will follow,'' a special bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai said.

The special bench assembled at 10.25 am to hear the plea.

Gowri has taken oath as additional judge of the Madras High Court. 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 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.''