VP Race: I.N.D.I.A. Bloc's Sudarshan Reddy Under Fire Over Meeting Fodder Scam Convict Lalu Prasad Yadav

On the eve of the Vice-Presidential election, the I.N.D.I.A. bloc’s nominee and former Supreme Court judge B. Sudarshan Reddy has come under a cloud after a private meeting with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, a convicted accused in the fodder scam.

A group of over 25 senior advocates and former Bar Council leaders on Monday issued a joint statement criticising Justice Reddy’s conduct, calling it a “serious lapse in judgment”. The meeting, they argued, raised troubling questions about propriety, given his past position as a judge of the apex court and his candidature for one of the highest constitutional offices.

The signatories pointed out that Yadav, convicted for “embezzlement of about INR 940 Crores public funds,” holds no position in Parliament and is not part of the electoral college that votes in the Vice-Presidential election. They said this made the meeting politically meaningless and cast it instead as an “engagement of dubious nature".

Equally sharp was their criticism of what they described as the “conspicuous silence” of those who regularly claim the mantle of “constitutional morality". The statement noted that voices usually “up in arms over far lesser allegations” had chosen to remain quiet, which, it said, only reaffirms "the partisan nature" of their interventions.

The group urged the public to assess Justice Reddy’s decision in the context of national interest, warning that his association with “a person who has demonstrably harmed national interests through corruption” calls into question his “intentions and allegiances".

"This lapse, by an individual seeking to occupy an influential and prestigious constitutional post, represents a fundamental error in judgment, one that the public is bound to evaluate fully," the statement read. 

The statement was signed by senior advocates Anil Soni, Pavan Narang, Arun Bharadwaj, Ajay Burman, Ashok Singh, Sonia Mathur, Ravi Prakash, Kirti Uppal, Sanjay Poddar, Sunil Dalal, Beni Chatterjee, Sanjeev Deshpande, Ram Apte, Abhay Khandeparkar, Sanjeev Gowardkar, Chetan Mittal, Jamshed Mistry, Pinky Anand, Lakshmy Iyengar, Sanjay Jain, Jayant Sood, Dinesh Agnani and Baldev Mahajan, former Advocate General of Haryana.

It also carried the names of former Bar Council leaders from Maharashtra and Goa, Adv. Motising Mohta, Adv. Milind Patil, Adv. Parijat Pande and Adv. Subhash Ghatge.