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At least seven former high court judges wrote an open letter to President Droupadi Murmu, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, and Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar expressing 'concern' over the way the Lok Sabha elections were conducted.
The letter was signed by former Madras high court judges GM Akbar Ali, Aruna Jagadeesan, D Hariparanthanam, PR Shivakumar, CT Selvam, S Vimla, and former Patna high court judge Anjana Prakash, who said they have no affiliation to any political party.
The judges in their letter claimed that there are “genuine apprehensions” in the minds of the vast majority of the people, echoed civil and human rights organizations and activists.
They also pointed to alleged minimal action taken against hate speech against minorities and opposition parties by leaders of the ruling party.
The ex-judges urged the apex court to “defend and protect the Constitution and democracy, should be ready to take proactive action to prevent any potential catastrophe or to address any monstrous situations that may arise during counting and declaration of results of candidates who have contested in Lok Sabha 2024 elections, requiring immediate intervention.”
They urged the Supreme Court to ensure the presence of top five justices even during the vacation to be able to respond to what they call an event of any “constitutional crisis”.
The ex-judges wrote in the open letter, “We hope that our apprehensions are wrong and the elections would end smoothly with counting of votes and declaration of results done in a fair and honest manner and formation of parliament as well as transition of power taking place as per the mandate of the people without a hiccup.”
Source: Ex-High Court judges write to President, CJI; claim ‘constitutional crisis’ if…