A group of 44 retired judges, including former Supreme Court and High Court justices, has issued a stern defense of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, condemning what they describe as a “motivated campaign” attacking him over his recent remarks on Rohingya refugees. The judges say the criticism misrepresents the Chief Justice’s observations and risks undermining public trust in the judiciary.

In a statement titled “Disparagement of the Supreme Court is Unacceptable”, the retired judges warned that ongoing misinterpretations are deliberately designed to attribute political motives to judicial scrutiny. They clarified that CJI Surya Kant’s questions during the hearing were purely legal in nature, focusing on the fundamental issue of who had conferred refugee status claims being presented before the Court.

The statement emphasized that no judicial determination regarding rights can proceed without addressing such foundational legal questions. The retired judges noted that critics had selectively omitted parts of the Bench’s observations, which explicitly affirmed that no individual—citizen or foreign national—can be subjected to torture, inhuman treatment, or disappearance.

Further, the statement highlighted the legal context for Rohingya migrants in India. The retired judges pointed out that India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol, meaning protections for foreign nationals are governed solely by the Constitution, domestic immigration laws, and established human rights norms.

The judges also cautioned that framing routine judicial inquiries into allegations of bias or prejudice constitutes a serious threat to judicial independence. They stressed that if every probing question about nationality, migration, or documentation triggers political or media attacks, the judiciary’s capacity to fulfill its constitutional mandate would be gravely compromised.