Senior lawyer KK Venugopal in an exclusive interview with NDTV said judges in the past, when Independent India’s judiciary took its first steps, were “very independent” to the point that the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru “made some very strong statements” against them.

Mr Venugopal, a constitutional lawyer who served as Attorney General of India from July 2017 till his retirement in September 2022, said the judges back then were so fiercely independent that Jawaharlal Nehru went to the extent of saying “they [judges] cannot sit as a fourth house of parliament.”

Born in 1931, Mr Venugopal has worked in nearly every high court in the country, except for “two or three”.

“Mohan Kumaramangalam made a scathing attack against the judiciary because land reform after land reform was struck down by the judiciary. Perhaps, they belonged to a very elitist class… Every one of those laws which had been struck down had to be reinstated by an amendment to the Constitution. That’s how Article 31A, 31B, 31C, all came into existence,” Mr Venugopal told NDTV.

“And with that, so far as the judges were concerned, they were put in their place by the executive of that time. Now, Nehru threatened to pack the coat. But that became unnecessary. Because much later… they became a political centre of the country through the public interest litigation,” Mr Venugopal said.

“There was no sphere of human activity in which the judges were not concerned. Therefore, you find strange judgements where part of governance was taken over as it were by Supreme Court judges for the last about two decades,” he said.

He said even today there are quite a few judges in the Supreme Court who are very independent.

“And today you will find that they are delivering judgments, very balanced judgments, and if necessary, fully against the government. But there is a small section, a very small section, which I think is quite favourable to the government.

“And those are the judgments which have resulted in denying bail right and left to those political or other detainees, or we know for example one or two judges, perhaps in advance know you will not be able to succeed if you are attacking the government. But otherwise, there’s a good section which is wholly independent,” Mr Venugopal said.

To a question by NDTV on who has been the real torchbearer of his legacy, Mr Venugopal took two names – Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, and Justice KV Viswanathan.

“I think Rohinton Fali Nariman, and now Viswanathan, who was with me for a number of years. He’s going to be a Chief Justice in due course for a year or so. He, I found that in the short period of a few months, totally independent. And I think he had the advantage of sitting with Justice BR Gavai, who is equally independent and therefore I’m having very high expectations for him,” Mr Venugopal said.

A Grozny-bound plane with 67 people onboard crashed near Kazakhstan’s Aktau airport, reportedly after a bird collision, resulting in over 30 fatalities. The incident occurred during deviation from its planned route. Survivors received medical treatment and recovery operations continue; a government commission has been formed to investigate.

Film producer Dil Raju has said the entire Telangana film industry will meet Chief Minister Revanth Reddy today. Mr Raju, who is the chairman of the Telangana Film Development Corporation, said that he would act as a bridge between the film industry and the government.

While addressing the media about the stampede at Sandhya Theatre in Hyderabad during the screening of ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’, Mr Raju stated, “The Chief Minister (Revanth Reddy) has scheduled tomorrow’s appointment and the entire film industry will meet him. I will act as a bridge between the Telangana Film Development Corporation and the government. Everyone available in Hyderabad will attend.”

Earlier, Dil Raju informed that Sri Tej, who got severely injured during the stampede, is responding well to treatment and was taken off the ventilator two days ago. Sri Tej’s mother, Revathi, lost her life in the incident.

He visited KIMS Hospital in Secunderabad, Hyderabad, to meet Sri Tej’s family. Speaking to ANI, he said that he had previously met Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to discuss providing support to Sri Tej’s family, ensuring that both the film industry and government would offer all necessary assistance.

“He (the child injured in the Sandhya Theatre incident during the premiere of Pushpa 2) is responding (to treatment) and recovering. He was taken off the ventilator two days ago,” said Dil Raju.

On Tuesday, actor Allu Arjun was questioned by Hyderabad police in connection with the tragic incident during the premiere of his film on December 4.

Meanwhile, the father of the injured child, Bhaskar, expressed gratitude for the support they are receiving. “The child responded after 20 days. He is responding today. Allu Arjun and the Telangana government are supporting us,” he said.

On December 4, when Allu Arjun attended the premiere of ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ at Sandhya Theatre, a massive crowd gathered to catch a glimpse of the actor. Chaos ensued when he waved to fans from the sunroof of his car, leading to the stampede.

Following the incident, Allu Arjun was arrested and later released on bail after furnishing a Rs 50,000 bond.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)