In an interview given to the media today, Justice KT Thomas, a retired judge of the Supreme Court, said that Indira Gandhi tried to destroy the democracy of India by imposing emergency. He also praised the government for Operation Sindoor.

When asked about his opinion about Indira Gandhi, Justice Thomas said, "Not only am I not a fan of her, I believe that she tried to destroy the democracy of India. She imprisoned many freedom fighters without trial for eighteen months. Would anyone else do something like that? She became a dictator".

Speaking about Operation Sindoor and the Pahalgam terrorist attack, Justice Thomas said that, "Not retaliating after the Mumbai terror attack is a lesson for us. But this time we went inside their country and destroyed terror camps". He said that the Operation was necessary to maintain the morale of citizens.

During the interview given a Malayalam news channel, while speaking on 'secularism' and referring to the current interpretation of the word 'secularism', Justice Thomas said, "Muslims League (Indian Union Muslims League) is considered a secular party, they claim to be secular.... I am opposed even to parties that consider Muslims League secular".
Speaking about his early life, he said that joining the District Judiciary was a difficult decision for him since he and very good practice at that time as a lawyer, which he had to give up. He added that a District Judge was then paid a meagre amount. He said that he was concerned whether he would be able to manage the education of his three children with the salary of the District Judge.

He said that his most difficult time as a Judge was when he was unable to venture out because of security concerns, as he was part of the bench that heard the Rajiv Gandhi murder case. He said that he was provided with heavy security then, because of which he was often confined to his house. He explained why he dissented with the other two judges on giving a death sentence to Nalini, a convict in the Rajiv Gandhi murder case.

He said that he is principally against death sentence, just like Justice Krishna Iyer. He said that he is with the abolitionists and not retentionists on the issue of capital punishment. He said that punishment should be for the same reason why a child is punished. "Why are you punishing a child? For him to become a better person. Indian citizens should only be punished for reformation. If a person is sentenced to death, there is no reformation", Justice Thomas said.

He referred to a famous case from Kerala arising out of the murder of a Sub-Inspector of Police. The division bench of the Kerala High Court differed on the conviction of the accused, who were policemen, and the matter was referred to a three-judge bench headed by him. He said that the bench acquitted all the accused and after passing the order, certain facts came to light which confirmed the innocence of the accused. "If I had not acquitted them. I would have resigned, for convicting six innocent policemen", he said.

Speaking about his college days, Justice Thomas said that he was then associated with the Congress(INC). He said that at the age of eighteen, he was sent as the representative of the Youth Congress from Kerala for a meeting in Delhi, where he got to meet Jawaharlal Nehru.

"The present government is functioning well. India has progressed in all fields during the terms of Narendra Modi and everybody recognises this fact. India would soon be the third-largest economy in the world. We also have a storm military. Pakistan tried to attack us four times, but they had to retreat", he said while answering a question.

Justice KT Thomas

Verdictum News Desk