File photo of Kerala Governor P Sathasivam
The Centre yesterday defended the decision to appoint former Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam as the Governor of Kerala, saying there were precedents and that no effort had been made to compromise the judiciary.
"We hold judiciary as sacred and sacrosanct. Trust our word... M C Chhagla was made the Foreign Minister, Education Minister and Ambassador to the US. Rangnath Mishra was an MP... Justice Sathasivam has publicly stated 'I do not wish to take any assignment of arbitration or commercial money making'," Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
"He (Sathasivam) only said if the government will give me some assignment... but only on this instance we are trying to compromise the judiciary is grossly unfair," Prasad added.
He also defended the decision of the government to ask the Supreme Court collegium to reconsider the elevation of eminent lawyer Gopal Subramanium as a judge of the apex court.
He told the media that while the professional competence of Subramanium is not under question, the government took the decision based on fair, plausible and reasonable grounds.
Responding to a question, he defended the decision to call off the Foreign Secretary level talks with Pakistan over Islamabad's move to carry on with meeting Hurriyat leaders despite New Delhi's objection.
He said Pakistan will have to accept that there are certain norms. He said "after May 26 (when Narendra Modi government took over), India has changed."
He also rejected suggestions that PM Modi was becoming 'authoritarian' and said his ministers have freedom to speak and take decisions.