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Media reports distorted my comments, says R.C. Lahoti

`I always had, still have high regard for V.N. Khare'

New Delhi: Seeking to put a lid on a controversy, the former Supreme Court Chief Justice, R.C. Lahoti, on Thursday said he had never made any comments against his predecessor V.N. Khare on handling the issue of judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court going on protest leave a couple of years ago.

Terming media reports in this regard as "distorted, blown out of proportion and regrettable," Mr. Justice Lahoti said his remarks were limited to the situation in the court then and he did not blame anyone.

Twenty-five judges of the Court had gone on a day's mass leave on April 18, 2005 in protest against the alleged "high-handedness" of the then Chief Justice B.K. Roy.

Quoting Justice Lahoti, newspaper reports suggested his appeals to Mr. Justice Khare, the then Chief Justice of India, to intervene were ignored till the matter came to a head and judges went on leave, something unprecedented in Indian judicial history.

Mr. Justice Khare, who could not be reached for comments, had reportedly expressed resentment over the purported remarks, saying some disgruntled judges were behind this.

Mr. Justice Lahoti told PTI: "A few days ago, I had gone to deliver a convocation address in an engineering institute in Chandigarh. When it was over, a correspondent of a local English daily asked me about something that had happened about two years ago regarding the judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court who had gone on mass casual leave for one day."

"I explained that it appeared all was not well between the Chief Justice and the judges of the High Court and a good number of judges had some grievance against the Chief Justice because they thought they were not being fairly treated. But no action was taken on their grievance for a long period of time. Some action, if taken promptly, would have avoided the ugly turn which the situation subsequently took. This is all I had said without laying blame on anyone," he said.

"But the report in the newspaper is distorted," he said. "Then somebody called me from Gwalior and told me about a report in a Hindi paper too with headline `dono CJI aamne saamne' (both CJIs face to face). I was shocked and felt very bad. This was even more distorted and irresponsible, in the way it is projecting that two former CJIs are face to face on such and such issue."

"I always had high regard for Justice V.N. Khare, which I hold even today. Even as a person I have always held him in high regard and there is no question of the erstwhile holders of this highest judicial office being face to face with each other," Mr. Justice Lahoti said.

"I think this (clarification) should put an end to the controversy," he said. — PTI

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