The Supreme Court has on Monday sought the Meghalaya High Court’s response on a PIL seeking expunction of remarks made by Justice Sudip Ranjan Sen on “Hindu Rashtra”.
The apex court had issued a notice to the by Meghalaya High Court (HC) judge Sudip Ranjan Sen over his ‘India should have been declared a Hindu nation after partition in 1947’ remark.
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He made this inappropriate remark in December last year, reports TNT.
The apex court also agreed to examine if judge Sen’s ‘Hindu nation’ comment needs to be deleted or not.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna issued notice to the high court registrar on the plea filed by Sona Khan and others.
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The plea contended that the judgment authored by Meghalaya HC judge Justice Sen is “legally flawed and historically misleading”.
Justice Sen in his written judgement in December last year noted, “Pakistan declared themselves as an Islamic country and India since was divided on the basis of religion should have also been declared as a Hindu country but it remained as a secular country.”
“Even today, in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, the Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Christians, Parsis, Khasis, Jaintias and Garos are tortured and they have no place to go and those Hindus who entered India during partition are still considered as foreigners, which in my understanding is highly illogical, illegal and against the principle of natural justice,” Justice Sen had said.
Judge Sen passed this judgement while disposing of a petition filed by a person who was denied domicile certificate by the state government.
The judge’s comments came under severe flak, with political leaders, public figures and people alike attacked him for undermining the country’s secular fabric.
The CPI-M was among the first to raise alarm over judge Sen’s alleged communal comment. Such views will increase discord in the region, the CPI-M said, adding that Sen has “lost his moral right to continue in the office as a judge in a High Court”.
The judge’s statement was also criticised by National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah too, who said, “It is a secular country and will remain secular.”