Advocate Nagendra Naik contested the Karnataka Vidhan Sabha elections on a Janata Dal (Secular) ticket from the Bhatkal constituency. When the results were declared on Saturday (May 13), he received a rude shock.
Naik failed to even get 1% of the votes cast by the electorates. With just 1502 votes to his name, the advocate found himself at a distant third position in the Bhatkal constituency. It was also a reflection of the standing of his party in Karnataka, which has been reduced to only 19 seats in an Assembly of 224.
While speaking about his poor performance to The Indian Express, Naik said, “My campaign started very late and anyway the people voted overwhelmingly for the Congress because they wanted to keep the BJP out.”
Nagendra Naik is not an ordinary advocate who chose to join electoral politics on a whim. His name has been recommended by the Supreme Court to the Centre for elevation as a Judge of the Karnataka High Court, not once, but four times.
His name was first proposed [pdf] by a Collegium headed by former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi on October 3, 2019. The Union government, however, raised objections and asked the Collegium to reconsider its decision.
Naik’s name was reiterated [pdf] by another Collegium headed by SA Bobde on March 2, 2021. Another such reiteration was made in September of that year by a Collegium headed by then CJI NV Ramanna.
An unprecedented move by the Centre
In January 2023, a Collegium comprising CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph yet again recommended the name of Nagendra Naik in an unprecedented move.
Usually, the Centre accepts the nomination of a Judge if the name is recommended by the apex court twice as part of a long-standing convention. However, in the case of Naik, the Union government kept seeking reconsideration of his name.
Citing sources, NDTV reported in March this year that the Centre’s objection to Naik’s elevation is based on his ‘close affiliation with a political party’ and criminal complaints against him (which the Collegium has dubbed as ‘baseless’).
Reportedly, the Collegium even took objection to the Union government’s strong stance and said, “(Such delay) affects the individual lawyer professionally as well as the institution.”
Nagendra Naik joins Janata Dal (Secular)
While blaming the Centre, Nagendra Naik claimed that he has waited for his judgeship ‘patiently’ for 4 years and that it had reached a dead end.
“I always wanted to do public service and once I realised that my judgeship was at a dead-end…I chose to take a plunge into politics…I decided one month ago to contest the elections,” he told The Indian Express.
The advocate claimed that the Centre was holding his education at Anjuman College in Bhatkal against him. He also alleged that his prospect at Judgeship might have been thwarted by an article in a local newspaper, wherein he chronicled communal riots in coastal Karnataka.
When asked whether he withdrew his consent for being a Judge prior to contesting Karnataka elections on a JDS ticket, he refused to do so ‘on principle.’ Naik suggested that his legal career took a hit every time there was a discussion around his Judgeship.
While speaking to The Indian Express, he conceded that all doors to his Judgeship are now closed after fraying into electoral politics.
