LC Victoria Gowri Takes Oath As Addl Judge At Madras HC Amid Ongoing SC Hearing Against Her Elevation

LC Victoria Gowri's oath-taking ceremony has come at the same time as the SC was hearing the case against her appointment. 

Lekshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri taking oath at Madras HC

Source : Youtube/HighCourtMadras

Chennai: Lekshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri took oath as additional judge of Madras High Court on Tuesday. Advocate L Victoria Gowri was administered her oath by ACJ T Raja.

Along with LC Victoria Gowri, four others including Pillaipakkam Bahukutumbi Balaji, Kandhasami Kulandaivelu Ramakrishnan, Ramachandran Kalaimathi and Govindarajan Thilakavadi took oath as Additional Judges of Madras High Court by Acting Chief Justice on Tuesday. The ceremony took place at the Meeting Hall, Additional Library Building at the Madras High Court premises. 

However, the oath-taking ceremony of LC Victoria has come at the same time as the SC was hearing the case against her appointment. 

Last week, 21 lawyers wrote to President Droupadi Murmu against the elevation of Gowri, a BJP member, as a judge. They also urged her to return the file submitted by the SC's Collegium.

The advocates citing her previous works said, “Gowri's regressive views are completely antithetical to foundational Constitutional values and reflect her deep-rooted religious bigotry.”

Therefore, they said that she was unfit for the appointment of the judge of a High Court.

Meanwhile, there is also support for Gowri’s appointment. Earlier, 58 lawyers from Madurai Bench of Madras High Court wrote to the Supreme Court Collegium requesting to reject a recent request by a group of Madras High Court lawyers to withdraw the collegium's recommendation to appoint advocate Lakshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri as a judge.

According to ANI, they said “Gowri, Assistant Solicitor General of India (Madurai Bench), had contributed to the development of law. They said advocates and judges of the High Court who worked as members of political parties were appointed, though they have a political background.”

Meanwhile, the media was restricted from covering the swearing-in ceremony. The live coverage can be seen from High Court Madras channel.