Two former Kerala HC judges deny endorsing UP’s ‘love-jihad’ law

Two former Kerala high court judges have denied signing a letter addressed to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, extending support to the infamous ‘Love-Jihad’ law in the state.

In December, there were reports that 224 retired bureaucrats, former judges, and other officers have signed a letter professing support to UP’s anti-conversion law. However, former Kerala high court judges, Justices K Balakrishnan Nair and A V Ramakrishna Pillai whose names were included in the signatories, have now come out and denied signing any such letter.

According to a report by The Times of India, Justice Nair and Pillai completely refuted reports of them signing or endorsing the law.

While, Balakrishnan Nair said that he didn’t sign the letter nor did he receive any request regarding the same, Ramakrishna Pillai told that he had received a WhatsApp message in this regard seeking endorsement but he confuted from signing or even responding to this.

Justice Hariharan Nair said he had not read the letter entirely despite endorsing it. 

 The love-jihad law recently saw a ‘letter war’ between ex-bureaucrats and retired officers including bureaucrats, Army officers, former judges and others.

A group of 104 retired bureaucrats wrote to Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, expressing “deep disapproval” and worry against the “love jihad” law.

Despite great dismay that was expressed by so many people, almost 224 retired bureaucrats and judicial officers wrote a letter to Adityanath extending their support to the new law and criticized the 104 bureaucrats who wrote to the CM dismissing the law and demanding a withdrawal. 

They wrote, “It is a matter of concern that one group of retired civil servants, visibly biased with an anti- establishment attitude despite overtly posing as ‘non-political’, repeatedly avail of every, opportuntunity to put the Indian democracy its institutions, and persons legitimately holding high offices in poor light before the whole world by making ill-considered public statements, or writing misconceceived communications to various authorities.”