[dropcap]S[/dropcap]UPREME Court Bar Association (SCBA) has condemned the statement of Supreme Court judge Justice Arun Mishra describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an "internationally acclaimed visionary" and a "versatile genius" as part of his Vote of Thanks address at the Judicial Conference 2020..The SCBA resolution reads, "the SCBA expresses its strong reservations of the aforesaid statement and condemns the same strongly. The SCBA believes that the Independence of the Judiciary is the basic structure under the Constitution of India preserved in letter and spirit. The SCBA believes that any such statement reflects poorly on the Independence of the Judiciary and so calls upon the Hon'ble Judges not to make statements in future nor show any proximity or closeness to the executive including higher functionaries"..The SCBA further says "the SCBA also believes that such proximity and familiarity may impact the decision-making process by the Hon'ble Judges and may give rise to justifiable doubts in the minds of the litigants about the outcome"..Advocate Ashok Arora, Secretary, SCBA has not signed the resolution. Also, two executive members of the SCBA namely advocate Prerna Kumari and Alka Agarwal dissented against the resolution.
