Justice B Sudershan Reddy: A champion of access to education, judicial independence

New Delhi:  Supreme Court’s Justice (Retd) B. Sudershan Reddy, the Opposition’s candidate for the Vice President election next month, has a long and illustrious legal career known for his progressive and socially-conscious approach to justice, access to education and judicial independence.

During his stint in the apex court from January 2007 to July 2011, while serving as the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court and working as a Judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, Justice Reddy paid special focus on access to education and judicial independence.

Justice Reddy expressed strong disapproval of policies limiting access to higher education, particularly for disadvantaged groups.

He argued against practices like reserving all seats in institutions like the Army College of Medical Sciences for children of the Army personnel, even if they qualified for the entrance exam.

He believed denying access to quality higher education to a large segment of youth, particularly from disadvantaged sections, could create a “social emergency” with potentially far-reaching consequences.

Justice Reddy, who was appointed as a permanent Judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on May 2, 1995 and elevated as Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court on December 5, 2005, has also stood for judicial independence.

In a case concerning the disclosure of Supreme Court judges’ assets under the Right to Information Act (RTI), Justice Reddy referred the matter to a larger bench, raising key questions about balancing transparency with judicial independence.

He was born on July 8, 1946, in Andhra Pradesh’s Rangareddy district. After completing his B.A., LL.B., he was enrolled as an Advocate at Hyderabad with the Bar Council of Andhra Pradesh on December 27, 1971 and practised in Writ and Civil matters in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh.

He also worked as Government Pleader in the High Court during 1988-90 and served as Additional Standing Counsel for the Central government for a period of six months during 1990.

During his legal practice days, he worked as Legal Adviser and Standing Counsel for Osmania University.

Justice Reddy is also known for strengthening the guidelines on public interest litigation (PIL). In one of his judgments, he said that High Court judges should not initiate suo motu investigations based solely on anonymous letters or petitions alleging misconduct against individuals or institutions.

In 2022, after his retirement, the Supreme Court appointed Justice Reddy as an oversight authority for the implementation of the Comprehensive Environmental Plan for Mining Impact Zone related to mining operations in Karnataka.

The Vice-Presidential election scheduled on September 9 has been described by Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge as an “ideological battle” as Justice Reddy is likely to lose to NDA candidate C.P. Radhakrishnan due to the ruling coalition’s numerical superiority.

“We are going to file the nomination on August 21,” said Kharge at a media briefing, adding that a strategy meeting of the Opposition parties will be held at the Central Hall of Parliament on Wednesday.

The Vice Presidential election was necessitated by the mid-term resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar, who vacated the post on July 21 citing medical reasons.

–IANS