Retd HC Judge writes to Prez on elevation of Justices Maheshwari and Khanna

New Delhi: Justice Kailash Gambhir, former Delhi High Court judge, has written a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind against the Supreme Court collegium's recommendation to elevate Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjiv Khanna to the apex court by superseding 32 judges.

The letter written on Monday mentions that Justice Khanna is the nephew of late Justice H R Khanna who was superseded after he gave a dissenting verdict during the Emergency by not supporting the view that even a fundamental right can be curtailed in certain circumstances.

Just like Justice H R Khanna's supersession was termed as a "black day" in the history of the Indian judiciary, it would be another black day when there will be supersession of 32 judges who are senior to Justice Sanjiv Khanna and many of them maybe no less meritorious and men of integrity than him.

The letter comes in the wake of the January 10 collegium recommendation for elevation of Justice Maheshwari, who is presently the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, and Justice Sanjiv Khanna, a judge in the Delhi High Court, as the judges of the apex court.