- Former Chief Justice of Madras High Court, Justice Markendey Katju told that he was never under pressure politically by Chief Minister Jaylalitha neither
- During his tenure in the High Court a sanctioned strength of 49 Judges were allotted but only 26 were present and some of them were due to retire soon
- Also a bench of the High Court was to be created in Madurai and the rules required at least 5 judges always
- Justice Katju expressed that the task to appoint judges wasnt easy
- During this process he did not mention the DMK altough he expressed regret about another political party in Tamil Nadu (The DMK was part of the Congress-led UPA government then)
- The DMK through representatives put tremendous pressure on recommending certain names for Judgeship whom Mr.Katju found to be totally undeserving who were just lawyers but never seen in the court
- The pressure from the political parties to fill the MHC was not accepted & SC collegium approved 17 out of 20 judges
- Amidst this pressure a P.I.L. by the Madras High Court Advocates Association was filed and an order of the Supreme Court validating appointments of 17 Judges was made, a record for Madras High Court.
- Read at: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/jayalalithaa-never-interfered-with-judicial-functions-says-katju/article6232339.ece