Overview

• Justice B. Sudershan Reddy said some on the 56-signatory list told him they never endorsed the statement, citing former Supreme Court judge R.V. Raveendran as denying authorship.
• He added that his team found one or more possibly fictitious names on the list, raising questions about the letter’s authenticity.
• The 56 former judges, including ex–Chief Justices P. Sathasivam and Ranjan Gogoi, argued that by seeking the vice presidency Reddy entered electoral politics and should face normal political scrutiny.
• An earlier statement by 18 retired judges had called Home Minister Amit Shah’s criticism of Reddy over the Salwa Judum judgment “unfortunate,” after Shah linked the 2011 ruling to prolonged Left‑Wing Extremism.
• Law Commission member Hitesh Jain accused some retired judges of political activism and urged focus on lower‑court problems, while former AG Mukul Rohatgi backed the 56‑judge stance that political entrants should expect open debate on past rulings.