To
Hon’ble
Justice P. Sathasivam,
Chief
Justice of India,
Supreme
Court of India,
New
Delhi.
Respected
Sir,
The
attention of the entire nation – or at least of the thinking people – has been drawn
to the Times of India news item dated 09.02.2014:
‘Curative plea may help fight gay sex ruling’
CJI indicated on Saturday that a curative petition can
be filed against section 377 of the IPC, which criminalizes unnatural sex. "Even
after a review petition is rejected, a curative petition can be filed," CJI P Sathasivam told
TOI.
Several questions/comments are in order:
1. You and you alone
can testify to the veracity of this news item along with its heading.
2.
If it is planted/
paid news then you or your office should send a rejoinder to the paper and move
the Press Council if the rebuttal is not published. It is entirely up to you to
file a defamation suit against the paper.
3. If the news item
is correct in its entirety, then wittingly or unwittingly it is a case of
opinion being given on the acceptability of the curative petition which your
good-self may not even have read through and which in any case has not even
been filed as yet. Under the circumstances it is difficult to appreciate how
the acceptability of the petition has been assumed and opined by you especially
regarding the fulfillment of parameters laid down for filing of curative
petition in Rupa Ashok Hurra Vs. Ashok Hurra & Anr, [2002 (4) S.C.C. 388].
4. The news item
would ensure that brother judges junior to you who may be hearing the curative
petition will not be able to express their own views without fear about its
acceptability. A situation may arise where you and judges junior to you may be
tempted to admit the curative petition under such peculiar circumstances. In
such a situation when the petition gets admitted it would appear to us, gay
rights activists, a pyrrhic victory, albeit at the admission stage.
It may be mentioned that the AIDS Anti-Discrimination
Movement (ABVA of which the undersigned is a member) was the first organization
to file a writ petition in the Delhi High Court asking for striking down of
Section 377, IPC as unconstitutional in 1994. This petition was dismissed in
2001. While we would in earnest like to see justice being done to gay and
lesbian community it would hurt the sensitivity and sensibility of all
concerned if at this stage it appears that influence has been a factor in this
victory – never mind if it is at the stage of admission of the curative
petition. As conscientious activists it would be an assault on our conscience.
Hence this letter appealing to you either to resign from your post or assure
that the curative petition is heard at a much later date when the immediate
fall out of your statement in TOI would have receded.
It is hoped that justice will not only be done but
also seen to be done.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Paramjit Singh
