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'Sudershan Reddy helped Naxalism, gave Salwa Judum judgment': Amit Shah on Oppn's VP candidate
Amit Shah said if Sudershan Reddy had not delivered the Salwa Judum judgement, the extremist Left movement in the country would have ended before 2020.
Union home minister and BJP leader Amit Shah on Friday accused the Opposition's candidate for the upcoming vice-presidential elections, Justice B Sudershan Reddy, of “supporting” naxalism.
The union home minister was speaking during the inauguration of the Manorama News conclave, organised by the Malayala Manorama group in Kochi.
Shah, while making the remarks, highlighted the Salwa Judum judgement, saying that if it had not been delivered, the extremist Left movement in the country would have ended before 2020, according to PTI.
“Sudershan Reddy is the person who helped Naxalism. He gave Salwa Judum judgment. If the Salwa Judum judgement had not been given, the Naxal terrorism would have ended by 2020. He is the person who was inspired by the ideology that gave Salwa Judam judgment,” Shah said, according to PTI.
Shah made the statements regarding the 2011 Supreme Court judgement on Salwa Judum during a question answer session during the conclave.
What was the Salwa Judum judgement?
Justice Reddy, while delivering a verdict on Salwa Judum in December, 2011, had said that using tribal youths as Special Police Officers to fight against Maoist insurgents was illegal and unconstitutional.
The Special Police Officers were also called ‘Koya Commandos’ or Salwa Judum. The SC ruled that these officers be immediately disarmed.
Shah, during the conclave, said that Kerala had faced the consequences of the judgement, saying that the residents of the state would see that “under the pressure of Left parties”, the Congress had fielded a candidate who “supported naxalism and used a pious forum like the Supreme Court."
Who is B Sudershan Reddy?
Reddy, the Opposition INDIA bloc's pick as its vice-presidential candidate, started his career as an advocate with the Bar Council of Andhra Pradesh in December 1971.
Born in July, 1946, he served as a government pleader in the Andhra Pradesh high court between 1988 and 1990, and has also previously worked as a legal adviser and standing counsel for Osmania University.
Reddy was appointed as a permanent judge of the Andhra Pradesh HC in May 1995, and became the Chief Justice of the Gauhati HC in December 2005. He eventually became a judge in the Supreme Court of India in January 12, 2007, wherein he served till his retirement in 2011.
