Nagendra Naik, whose establish was advisable as a High Court Judge by SC, fought Karnataka polls on JDS ticket, and misplaced

Advocate Nagendra Naik had contested the Karnataka Vidhan Sabha elections on a Janata Dal (Secular) ticket from the Bhatkal constituency. When the outcomes had been declared on Saturday (May 13), he acquired a rude shock.

Naik did not even get 1% of the votes strong by the electorates. With merely 1502 votes to his establish, the advocate found himself at a distant third place throughout the Bhatkal constituency. It was moreover a reflection of the standing of his get collectively in Karnataka, which has been diminished to solely 19 seats in an Assembly of 224.

While speaking about his poor effectivity to The Indian Express, Naik talked about, “My campaign started very late and anyway the people voted overwhelmingly for the Congress because they wanted to keep the BJP out.”

Screengrab of the 2023 Karnataka election finish outcome (Bhatkal constituency), image by the use of

Nagendra Naik is not going to be an uncommon advocate who chosen to affix electoral politics on a whim. His establish has been advisable by the Supreme Court to the Centre for elevation as a Judge of the Karnataka High Court, not as quickly as, nonetheless 4 events.

His establish was first proposed [pdf] by a Collegium headed by former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi on October 3, 2019. The Union authorities, nonetheless, raised objections and requested the Collegium to rethink its willpower.

Naik’s establish was reiterated [pdf] by one different Collegium headed by SA Bobde on March 2, 2021. Another such reiteration was made in September of that yr by a Collegium headed by then CJI NV Ramanna.

An unprecedented switch by the Centre

In January 2023, a Collegium comprising CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph however as soon as extra advisable the establish of Nagendra Naik in an unprecedented switch.

Usually, the Centre accepts the nomination of a Judge if the establish is advisable by the apex courtroom twice as part of a long-standing convention. However, throughout the case of Naik, the Union authorities saved searching for reconsideration of his establish.

Citing sources, NDTV reported in March this yr that the Centre’s objection to Naik’s elevation depends on his ‘close affiliation with a political party’ and authorized complaints in the direction of him (which the Collegium has dubbed as ‘baseless’).

Reportedly, the Collegium even took objection to the Union authorities’s sturdy stance and talked about, “(Such delay) affects the individual lawyer professionally as well as the institution.”

Nagendra Naik joins Janata Dal (Secular)

While blaming the Centre, Nagendra Naik claimed that he has waited for his judgeship ‘patiently’ for 4 years and that it had reached a dull end.

“I always wanted to do public service and once I realised that my judgeship was at a dead-end…I chose to take a plunge into politics…I decided one month ago to contest the elections,” he knowledgeable The Indian Express.

The advocate claimed that the Centre was holding his coaching at Anjuman College in Bhatkal in the direction of him. He moreover alleged that his prospect at Judgeship might have been thwarted by an article in an space newspaper, whereby he chronicled communal riots in coastal Karnataka.

When requested whether or not or not he withdrew his consent for being a Judge earlier to contesting Karnataka elections on a JDS ticket, he refused to take motion ‘on principle.’ Naik suggested that his licensed career took profitable every time there was a dialogue spherical his Judgeship.

While speaking to The Indian Express, he conceded that every one doorways to his Judgeship in the intervening time are closed after fraying into electoral politics.