Express News Service By

KOCHI: Justice K T Thomas, a reputed former judge who served in the Supreme Court, has defended the All-India Chief Justices Conference being held on Good Friday, saying, “what the chief justices are doing is also a holy act and Jesus Christ will bless them because they are implementing justice for the people on the holy day”.

Justice Thomas was responding to sitting SC Judge Justice Kurien Joseph’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in which he expressed reservation over the conference being held on Good Friday.

“The criticism only shows that some people have become intolerant,” Thomas, also a Christian, told a newspaper. When contacted by ‘Express’, Thomas said he did not want to repeat the comment all over again, but explained that policemen across the country were also on duty on Good Friday and other holy festivals, and that they did not stay away from work even though those were their religious festivals.

“On an earlier occasion in 2007, the Conference of Chief Justices was held (on a Good Friday), nobody even bothered. This is because today there are people who want to show that there is Christian persecution in India, to which I don’t agree. There is no persecution of Christians in India. I am a church-going Christian. For the last 12 years, I am delivering sermon on Good Friday. That is my personal thing and belief,” he added.

Justice Thomas further said that India was a country where only 3 per cent of the population belongs to the Christian community. But in America, Christians constitute 97 per cent of the population, but Good Friday is not even a holiday there.

As reported by ‘Express’ on Saturday, Supreme Court Justice Kurien Joseph had also written to Chief Justice H L Dattu expressing ‘deep anguish’ over the decision to hold a conference of judges on Good Friday.

In a move considered unprecedented, Justice Joseph in his letter to the PM urged him to ensure that the secular and constitutional values are upheld when such decisions are taken. Earlier, in the letter to Dattu on March 18, Kurian had stated that the conference, scheduled to be held from April 2 to 5, would give a wrong message to the other constitutional institutions.

The letter said he would be unable to attend the meet as he would be in Kerala to attend religious ceremonies related to Good Friday and Easter, and to spend time with his family. Dattu wrote back to him on March 20, expressing shock over his decision. “It is shocking that my decision to hold the conference, which is taking place after a gap of two years, has been questioned on the ground that it has been convened at an inappropriate time,” Dattu said.