NEW DELHI: The UAE, Oman, Indonesia, Iraq, the Maldives, Jordan, Libya and Bahrain have joined the growing list of countries in the Islamic world that have condemned the remarks. Earlier, Kuwait, Iran and Qatar had called Indian ambassadors to register their protest, and Saudi Arabia had issued a strongly worded statement.
Meanwhile, A group of former judges, bureaucrats and retired armed forces officers have criticised the recent Supreme Court observations against suspended BJP Spokesperson Nupur Sharma.”In the annals of judiciary, the unfortunate comments have no parallel and are indelible scar on justice system of the largest democracy. Urgent rectification steps are called for as these have potentially serious consequences on democratic values and security of the country,” the statement signed by 15 former judges, 77 ex-all India services officers and 25 veterans said.

The signatories include former chief justice of the Bombay High Court Kshitij Vyas, former Gujarat High Court judge S M Soni, former Rajasthan High Court judges R S Rathore and Prashant Agarwal and former Delhi High Court judge S N Dhingra.

The Open letter was signed by 15 former judges, 77 ex-all India services officers and 25 veterans including former chief justice of the Bombay High Court Kshitij Vyas, former Gujarat High Court judge S M Soni, former Rajasthan High Court judges R S Rathore and Prashant Agarwal and former Delhi High Court judge S N Dhingra. Former IAS officers R S Gopalan and S Krishna Kumar, ambassador (retired) Niranjan Desai, former DGPs S P Vaid and B L Vohra, Lt Gen V K Chaturvedi (retired) and Air Marshall (retired) S P Singh have also signed the statement which said the SC observations are not in sync with judicial ethos.
The letter said the SC observations are not in sync with judicial ethos. In an open letter sent to Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana, they have alleged that the apex court surpassed the “Laxman Rekha” and called for “urgent rectification” steps..
The Supreme Court had on 1 July come down heavily on Sharma for her controversial comments against Prophet Mohammad, saying her “loose tongue” has “set the entire country on fire” and that she is “single-handedly responsible for what is happening in the country”.

Refusing to entertain her plea for clubbing of FIRs lodged in various states against her for the remark, the bench held that the comment was made either for cheap publicity, political agenda or some nefarious activities. Ms Sharma had gone to the Supreme Court demanding that FIRs registered against her across the country should be clubbed together and transferred to Delhi. The court refused her plea and made some scathing comments.
The judges said Nupur Sharma’s “loose tongue” had “set the entire country on fire”, and that her comments were either for cheap publicity, political agenda or some “nefarious” activities. The observations were not part of the final order, though.

The letter stated that the roster of Justice Surya Kant be withdrawn till he attains superannuation and least be directed to withdraw the remarks and observations made by him during the hearing of the Nupur Sharma case. against the observation made by Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala while hearing Nupur Sharma’s case in the Supreme Court.
The open letter by the organisation ‘Forum for Human Rights and Social Justice, J&K and Ladakh at Jammu’ demands the roster of Justice Surya Kant be withdrawn till he attains superannuation and at least be directed to withdraw the remarks and observations made by him during the hearing.The statement said, “By no stretch these observations, which are not part of the judicial order, can be sanctified on the plank of judicial propriety and fairness. Such outrageous transgressions are without parallel in the annals of Judiciary.”

The top Court came down heavily on Nupuir Sharma for her controversial comments against Prophet Mohammad, saying her “loose tongue” has “set the entire country on fire” and that she is “single-handedly responsible for what is happening in the country”. The court had refused to entertain Nupur’s plea for clubbing of FIRs lodged in various states against her for the remark, and held that the comment was made either for cheap publicity, political agenda or some nefarious activities.
Criticising the observations, the statement said, “We, as concerned citizens, do believe that democracy of any country will remain intact till all the institutions perform their duties as per the constitution. Recent comments by the two judges of the Supreme Court have surpassed the Laxman Rekha and compelled us to issue an open statement
“She was defector denied access to judiciary and in the process, there was an outrage on the preamble, spirit and essence of the Constitution of India,” it alleged. In the observations, there is virtual exoneration of the “dastardliest beheading at Udaipur in broad daylight,” it claimed.

It further said, “Legal fraternity is bound to be surprised and shocked at the observation that an FIR should lead to arrest. The observations on other agencies in the country, without notice to them, are indeed worrisome and alarming.” The signatories also defended Sharma’s plea for clubbing all FIRs against her citing previous orders of the apex court.
Sharma’s comments against the Prophet during a TV debate had triggered protests across the country and drew sharp reactions from many Gulf countries. The BJP subsequently suspended her from the party.The apex court had also pulled up the Delhi Police which has registered an FIR against her. The bench said, “What has happened in the investigation so far? What has Delhi Police done so far? Don’t make us open our mouth? They must have put a red carpet for you.”

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