THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ADGP B. Sandhya, who has gone on central deputation at the Bureau of Police Research and Development in New Delhi, met retired Justice Markandey Katju at his residence in Noida on Monday evening. Reports from New Delhi say that the meeting was arranged seeking legal advice from Katju in the Soumya murder case. Fast Track Court Judge K. Ravindra Babu, who delivered the judgment in the case, accompanied the ADGP. Katju had come down heavily on the Supreme Court in a Facebook post saying that the court had seriously “erred in law” by reducing the sentence of Govindachami in the murder case. It may be recalled that the Supreme Court on Monday had asked Katju to explain his views in the court on November 11.
Incidentally, the meeting between Katju and Sandhya also took place on the same evening. Katju had earlier said that he will not appear before the Supreme Court. A retired SC judge appearing in the SC is against the Constitution, he said. But later, Katju had clarified that he did not mind appearing before the Supreme Court if it was within the law. Legal sources told DC that it was not clear whether Sandhya had met Katju with the state government permission. If so, the standing counsel in the Supreme Court should also have accompanied Sandhya instead of judge Ravindra Babu.
