'I have not stepped into politics': B. Sudershan Reddy

B. Sudershan ReddyThis election is not about one individual, but about reaffirming the idea of India as envisaged by our founders—an India where Parliament functions with integrity, where dissent is respected, and where institutions serve the people with independence and fairness.

That’s retired justice B. Sudershan Reddy, nominated by the Opposition INDIA bloc as its joint candidate for the vice-presidential election due on 9 September. Reddy, who has had a distinguished legal career, was elevated to the Supreme Court in January 2007 and retired in July 2011.

You’ll have heard Union home minister Amit Shah’s diatribe about Reddy’s alleged Naxal sympathies. This attack gathers its ammunition from a landmark Supreme Court judgement by Justice Reddy and Justice S.S. Nijjar, in the Nandini Sundar vs State of Chhattisgarh case, 2011, popularly remembered as the Salwa Judum case.

The 2011 ruling outlawed the use of tribal youth as special police officers (SPOs) in the Salwa Judum, a state-backed militia formed to combat Maoist insurgency. The court deemed the arming of civilians unconstitutional, arguing that it violated Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution and exposed vulnerable tribals to violence without adequate training or accountability.

Reddy emphasised in the ruling that the State cannot arm civilians or delegate its law enforcement duties to untrained vigilante groups, as it undermines the rule of law and State accountability. In the words of the ruling:

‘The State cannot, in a constitutional democracy, permit itself to be complicit in acts that violate the fundamental rights of its citizens, particularly those who are already marginalised and vulnerable… The policy of arming tribal youth as SPOs, without adequate training or accountability, is not only a violation of their rights but also an abdication of the State’s responsibility to maintain law and order.’

The BJP’s case is that the judgement weakened India’s fight against Naxalism. Shah argues that if the Salwa Judum had not been disbanded, “Naxal terrorism would have ended by 2020”, suggesting that Reddy’s ruling gave a “fresh lease of life” to left-wing extremism.

At the time of the 2011 ruling, the BJP was in power in Chhattisgarh, under chief minister Raman Singh.

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Since his nomination, Reddy has been on the move, travelling to states, meeting political leaders and members of Parliament and answering their questions. He has also addressed media, held press conferences and tackled questions, barbed ones included, directly and without apology.

When the Indian Express asked him about his ideology — presumably taking its cue from Shah’s ‘वामपंथी िवचारधारा’ (left-wing ideology) line of attack — Reddy said: “My ideology is the Constitution. My ideology is allegiance to the idea of equality, liberty, fraternity, the dignity of the individual, and justice. In that order. Social justice, economic justice, political justice. The Preamble says it. The order is prescribed by the Preamble. I am a votary of social justice. If it means leftism, I’m nobody to brand it, whether it is left, right, or centre.”

Justice Reddy sets the record straight on Amit Shah’s claim

Dignified and occasionally acerbic, he told news agency ANI, in a straight-bat defence of his bipartisan credentials, that he was present at possibly every speech delivered in Hyderabad by the late socialist stalwart Ram Manohar Lohia; that he was associated with the Lohia Trust; that it was a BJP chief minister who offered to make him Goa’s first Lok Ayukta; that the Supreme Court, in 2022, gave him the mandate to oversee the comprehensive environmental plan for mining impact zones (CEPMIZ) in Karnataka; that the Telangana government invited him, in 2024, to head the expert panel to supervise and scrutinise the caste survey…

“If the roads fall silent, Parliament will become unruly”: Sudershan Reddy echoes Ram Manohar Lohia

These notes, a compilation of Reddy’s replies to questions during interactions following his nomination, hold a mirror to the man:

On his decision “to get into politics”: “I have not stepped into politics — this is a high constitutional post. Philosophers, national leaders and educationists have held it before — Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Dr Zakir Hussain, Dr K.R. Narayanan, and later Shri Hamid Ansari. They inspire me…

I’ll not talk about political issues as this is not a political office… the office of the Vice President is not a political post. I believe it is a high constitutional office. I stand firmly by constitutional values and assure the nation that I will continue to uphold them.” (at a press conference in Lucknow)

On why even contest when NDA has the numbers: “The vice-presidential election is by secret ballot. MPs are expected to exercise their choice as per their conscience. The electoral college consists of members of Parliament, not a political party. The Constitution and the statute have deliberately designed it to be a secret ballot, where there is no possibility of any political party issuing a whip… that value is to be respected, by you and by me and every honourable MP.

“My effort will be to appeal to all the MPs to consider my candidature on merit. Ultimately, it is a matter of choice and that choice, I hope and trust, will be exercised by the MPs after duly taking into account the merits and demerits of each candidate. My job is to appeal.” (reported in Money Control and Indian Express)

On judgements against the UPA government: “Many of my orders as a Supreme Court judge may have gone against the UPA government, but Prime Minister Manmohan Singh never directly or indirectly interfered with my work.” (In a judgement delivered just a few days prior to his retirement in 2011, Justice Reddy criticised the Union government for slackness in investigating black money cases and ordered the constitution of an SIT to bring back unaccounted money stashed away in bank accounts abroad, as reported by The Hindu)

The numbers do not favour Reddy, but if the MPs do “exercise their conscience”, as he hopes they will, the next Vice President may be a person who can return to that “high Constitutional office” the dignity and gravitas it deserves.

I am a liberal democrat, not an RSS man: Sudershan Reddy