Victoria Gowri takes oath as Madras HC judge after SC dismisses lawyers' plea

New Delhi, February 07: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the petitions challenging lawyer Lakshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri's appointment as Madras High Court judge. The top court's decision after Gowri was sworn in as a judge of the Madras HC.

The case was heard by a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud. Earlier, a bench of justices Sanjeev Khanna and MM Sundresh was to hear the matter.

The top court said that it cannot direct the Collegium to reconsider its recommendation relating to Victoria Gowri. "There have been many instances when the additional judge was not made permanent when performance was not satisfactory," said the apex court.

Dismissing the writ petitions challenging Gowri’s appointment, the Supreme Court said that the Collegium has a robust scrutiny process to find suitability of electively candidates for appointment as HC judges.The SC-bench said Gowri is taking oath as an additional judge and the Collegium will examine her performance for minimum one year before confirming her as a permanent judge.

The hearing came on the day Gowri was scheduled to take oath as an additional judge. She was appointed along with four others on Tuesday.

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On Monday, the Union government notified her appointment following a recommendation from the top court collegium.

Gowri's elevation as a judge was opposed by a group of 21 lawyers from the Madras High Court, who wrote to President Droupadi Murmu urging her to return the file submitted by the Supreme Court Collegium recommending the appointment of Victoria Gowri, a BJP functionary, as a judge of the high court.