CJI suggesting that activists obstruct ‘development’ shows ‘alarming prejudice’: Ex-bureaucrats

A group of retired civil servants on Friday expressed concerns about the allegedly disparaging remarks made by Chief Justice Surya Kant recently while hearing an appeal against the National Green Tribunal’s order upholding the environmental clearances for the Pipavav port expansion project in Gujarat.

On May 11, a bench headed by the chief justice had refused to entertain the petition challenging the tribunal’s November decision to dismiss an appeal seeking the quashing of the clearances.

According to the Constitutional Conduct Group, the chief justice told the environmental litigants during the hearing: “Show us one project in India where environmental activists say we welcome this project, the country is progressing well, we welcome this project”.

The bench alleged such petitions were filed “only to stall development projects”, The Indian Express reported.

The court further clarified that it has always been concerned about environmental issues and are critical of anything that affects the environment, the newspaper reported.

The chief justice’s remarks “suggesting that these activists obstruct ‘development’, reveal a bias and prejudice that is alarming, coming from the highest judicial authority of the country, an authority whose mandate is to approach every issue without pre-conceived notions and decide each case on merits”, the group of former bureaucrats said in an open letter.

The group said that even if the remarks were...

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