SC reserves order on Justice Katju’s plea against Parl resolutions on Gandhi, Bose

The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on a plea of former Apex Court judge Justice Markandey Katju, seeking quashing of resolutions passed by both Houses of Parliament for calling Mahatma Gandhi and Subhash Chandra Bose British and Japanese “agents”, respectively, in his blog.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, whose assistance was sought by the court in deciding the plea of the former judge, vehemently opposed the petition saying that such kind of parliamentary acts are “not open to judicial scrutiny”.

“Parliament would not have reacted had it been any Tom, Dick or Harry. They passed the resolution as the statement has come from a former high constitutional functionary. You defame the Father Of The Nation, who is as important as national flag, and then you say that Parliament cannot react even in mildest terms,” the law officer told the Bench, comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justices R Banumathi and UU Lalit.

Echoing the views, earlier expressed by senior advocate FS Nariman who is assisting the Bench as amicus curiae, Rohatgi said: “I am shocked that the former judge of this court has said about the Father Of The Nation all this that he was a British agent and Bose was the agent of Japanese.”

Rohatgi added that Parliament rightly did not give him the opportunity to put forth his views as it did not issue any “censure” against him.

Parliament is entitled to condemn such kind of statements in strongest possible terms as “he (Justice Katju) is not a small politician or a small businessman who can say anything”.