George Kurien, the Vice-chairman of he National Commission for Minorities on Wednesday dismissed the controversial statement of Retired Justice of Supreme Court Kurian Joseph, where he had claimed that “minority tag is a hindrance to career progression”.
The Commission’s Vice-Chairperson, George Kurien has rejected the statements made by the former judge and alleged that such “misleading” statement has been made with the intention of creating communal disharmony. He strongly opposed the Kurien Joseph’s statement by saying that Justice Joseph is trying to create unrest in the society.
George Kurian further went on to say that Justice Joseph wanted to instil fear in the minds of the people from minority communities by saying that if the fate of a Supreme Court Judge is such, then what will be the fate of the common people.
“His intention is to create unrest and communal disharmony. It may be noted that he was respected and loved by people irrespective of his religion, but he gives back the community the feeling of fear and hatred,” George told this newspaper.
He also criticized Justice Joseph for holding the January 12 press conference where Justice Joseph, along with three other SC judges, made allegations against then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra. George said those allegations appeared to be based on assumptions and rumours.
Calling Justice Joseph as a ‘hypocrite,’ George asked whether Justice Joseph can say that he was instrumental in selecting judges from the minority community when he was a part of the collegium on whose recommendations judges are appointed. Justice Joseph did not maintain his dignity of the position he held, slammed the NCM vice-chairman.
Recently, Justice Joseph Kurien in his two post-retirement interviews had contradicted his own statements with regards to several issues including the controversial press conference of the four senior-most judges and political interference in the judiciary. The retired judge had interestingly changed his views on various issues in a just matter of two days.