25 legal luminaries criticise Oppn's VP candidate Reddy for meeting Lalu Prasad

New Delhi, Sep 8 (PTI) A section of legal luminaries on Monday vehemently criticised joint opposition's vice presidential candidate B Sudershan Reddy over his recent meeting with RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav, alleging that his "engagement" with convicted individuals speaks volumes about his intentions and allegiances.

Yadav had on Thursday posted on X pictures of his meeting with the former Supreme Court judge, who has been nominated as the joint opposition candidate for the September 9 vice presidential polls against the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) nominee C P Radhakrishnan.

"It is dismaying to note that B Sudarshan Reddy recently had a private meeting with Lalu Prasad Yadav who stands infamously convicted in the fodder scam case which involved the embezzlement of about Rs 940 crore of public funds from the state of Bihar," a group of 25 legal luminaries, including senior advocates of the Supreme Court, said reacting sharply in a joint statement.

"For someone of Reddy’s stature, a former Judge of the Supreme Court of India, and his ambition, which is to occupy one of the nation's highest constitutional offices, an engagement of such dubious nature raises serious questions about his judgment and propriety," they added.

They further alleged that Reddy's decision to associate with convicted individuals who have "demonstrably harmed national interests through corruption, speaks volumes about his intentions and allegiances." "This consultation cannot be justified by citing electoral considerations, as Yadav is neither a Member of Parliament nor is he eligible to vote in the Vice-Presidential electoral college," they said, adding, "The meeting, therefore, appears to serve no legitimate political purpose." Senior advocates of the Supreme Court including Pinky Anand, Sanjay Jain, Sonia Mathur and Anil Soni as well as former chairpersons and members of the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa Motising Mohta, Milind Patil, Parijat Pande and Subhash Ghatge are among the signatories to the statement issued on Monday.

They termed Reddy's meeting with Yadav as "worrying" and said, "This lapse, by an individual seeking to occupy an influential and prestigious constitutional post, represents a fundamental error in judgment, one that the public is bound to evaluate fully." Without naming anyone, they also slammed the conspicuous silence of "certain factions" over Reddy's meeting with Yadav and said it only "re-confirms" the partisan nature of such people.

"What is equally telling is the silence of certain factions, who are usually up-in-arms at far lesser allegations. This incident only re-confirms the partisan nature of those who position themselves as self-proclaimed custodians of constitutional morality," they said.

It reveals their willingness to overlook serious lapses for "self-serving interest and political convenience", they added. PTI PK PK KSS KSS