Greatest responsibility: Justice Victoria Gowri on becoming Madras HC judge

Justice Gowri said her responsibility as a judge entailed hearing the oppressed voices of the poor and to liberate the marginalised.

Advocate Lekshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri took oath on Tuesday as an additional judge of the Madras high court while the Supreme Court was also hearing a case against her elevation citing her alleged hate speeches against minorities. The Supreme Court however, dismissed the petition.

Gowri was the first to take oath among four others as additional judges administered by the acting chief justice, T Raja. (ANI image)

In her speech, Justice Gowri said her responsibility as a judge entail hearing the oppressed voices of the poor and to liberate the marginalised.

"I’m conscious and fully aware that today I’m handed over with the greatest responsibility of taking charge only to heed to the unheard and oppressed voices of the poorest of the poor, to liberate the marginalised…" she said.

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She thanked the Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, the former and present chief justices of the Madras high court, the legal fraternity of the Madurai benches and her husband.

CPI (M), an ally of the ruling DMK, staged protests outside the campus of the Madras high court against Gowri taking oath as justice.

Gowri was the first to take oath among four others as additional judges administered by the acting chief justice, T Raja inside the library hall of the Madras HC.

Gowri, who has been embroiled in controversies–over her association with the BJP and interviews against minorities– since the Collegium recommended her name on January 17, found support inside the hall during her oath-taking ceremony.

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Prior to her appointment, Gowri represented the BJP-led union government before the Madurai Bench of the Madras HC.

The union government on Monday had appointed advocate Gowri as one of the additional judges of the Madras HC despite opposition.

Last week, a group of 21 lawyers from the Madras HC had written to the Supreme Court’s Collegium as well as President Droupadi Murmu against Gowri citing her political affiliation to the BJP-led union government and hate speeches against minorities.