Madras HC Judge Victoria Gowri was proud of her RSS-BJP association

Lakshmana Victoria Gowri, who was sworn in as an additional judge of the Madras High Court on Tuesday, never shied away from flaunting her association with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in her formative years and later with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Gowri, 49, hails from Thuckalay or Thakkalai in Kanyakumari district bordering Kerala and has been quite vocal against religious conversion in her speeches and articles for various right-wing publications, including RSS mouthpiece Organiser.

Her past speeches, especially against Christian missionaries, and ties with the BJP and its ideological parent have come back to haunt Gowri with a group of senior lawyers writing to the Collegium against her appointment and several political parties vehemently opposing her elevation. Another group of lawyers came out in her support as well.

Despite the vehement opposition, Gowri was sworn in as an additional judge by Acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court T Raja at 10.46 am, just minutes before the Supreme Court dismissed a petition against her appointment.

Also read | L C Victoria Gowri sworn in as Madras HC judge; SC declines to stay oath

Gowri wasn’t known beyond her district and to her colleagues in BJP and at the courts where she practiced before her name was recommended for judgeship at the 161-year-old Madras High Court earlier this month. A first-time law graduate of her family, Gowri was born on May 21, 1973 and enrolled as a lawyer in 1995.

The additional judge pursued a law degree from Madurai Law College, where her association with the RSS began. In her later years, she worked with Seva Bharati and Mangayar Mangalam actively participating in camps organised by the two NGOs for empowering women. Locals said Gowri was actively involved in the relief and rehabilitation of people affected by Cyclone Ockhi which ravaged the Kanyakumari district.

“She was always vocal about her association with the RSS and BJP. She never made an attempt to hide her political affiliation. She has been quite vocal against religious conversion and people who interacted with her knew where she stood on several issues,” a lawyer who knows Gowri said.

Though this is not the first time that a person with political affiliations has been appointed as a judge, but the opposition to Victoria’s elevation stems from her writings, which according to many are “spewing hatred” against minorities. Many of her speeches are now taken off YouTube.

Victoria also added the term ‘Chowkidar’ before her name on her Twitter page in 2019 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked BJP cadres to do so. Victoria, who was general secretary of the BJP Mahila Morcha, resigned from her party posts in June 2020 before being appointed as an additional Solicitor General at the Madurai Bench.

In an article published in Organiser on October 1, 2012, titled ‘Aggressive baptising destroying social harmony’, Victoria argued that the demographic change in Kanyakumari and its electoral outcomes had influenced politicians cutting across party lines to surrender and “submit before the Church.”

For fifty years, the marginalised Hindus have been fighting the mighty Christian diocese. But now the situation is out of control. The Christian sectarianism and bigotry indulging in organised alluring conversions continuously have shrunk the majority Hindus to minorities,” she wrote.

In their representation to the Collegium, the senior lawyers of the Madras High Court flagged two interviews of Gowri captioned, "More Threat to National Security & Peace? Jihad or Christian Missionary? in which she says “like Islam is green terror, Christianity is white terror.”

They also spoke about another video titled "Cultural genocide by Christian Missionaries in Bharat” where she says Bharatanatyam should not be danced for Christian songs."

“Ms Gowri's regressive views are also completely antithetical to foundational Constitutional values and reflect her deep-rooted religious bigotry making her unfit to be appointed as a High Court judge,” the lawyers had said in their representation.