Despite BJP's protest, govt firm on ex-SC judge Joseph for NHRC - Indian Express

Maneesh Chhibber : New Delhi, Fri May 17 2013, 08:33 hrs In what could give rise to a fresh controversy, the government Thursday pushed the candidature of former Supreme Court judge Cyriac Joseph for the post of Member, National Human Rights Commission, ignoring the BJP's concerns over his "integrity and competence". The post is reserved for a former SC judge and is vacant since Justice G P Mathur completed his term in January. It is learnt that at Thursday's meeting of the selection committee, chaired by PM Manmohan Singh, Leaders of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, respectively, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley gave written reasons for opposing Joseph's name and walked out of the meeting. But the government is likely to use its majority on the panel, which also has Speaker Meira Kumar, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien, to clear his name. Last month also, the government had ignored the BJP leaders' opposition to the candidature of then NIA chief, S C Sinha, and appointed him Member, NHRC. The Indian Express had first reported on April 8 that the government planned to use its majority in the selection panel to appoint Justice Joseph to the post despite an adverse report from the Intelligence Bureau. The report had scuttled his chance of being made chairperson of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal. In his dissent note, Jaitley said of the three ex-judges proposed for the post — Joseph, B Sudershan Reddy and V S Sirpurkar — Joseph was "completely unsuitable". "He has been, even during his tenure as a judge, perceived to be close to certain political and religious organisations. His close proximity to religious organisations is evident from the fact that media reports have indicated that when certain nuns were sexually assaulted, as a sitting judge of SC he visited the institutions where narco analysis of the accused was being carried out in Karnataka... He was quoted in the media as having stated that for him his religious affinity was more important that his commitment as a judge," Jaitley's note said. ... contd. ALSO READ Faulty map: Maharashtra Board promises action Eyeing Sultanpur, Varun invokes father, promises development Chopper deal: IAF officer questioned 'We can't make a political film in India without camouflaging it' Please read our terms of use before posting comments TERMS OF USE: The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any person (s) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s). via Top Stories - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHBP1EsSWvO9fkY2YQpUYOv23WWOg&url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/despite-bjps-protest-govt-firm-on-exsc-judge-joseph-for-nhrc/1116786/

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