Meghalaya High Court judge clarifies his 'Hindu Country' remark, says 'nothing against secularism'

Two days after inviting criticism with his "Hindu Country" remark in a judgement, Meghalaya High Court Judge Justice Sudip Ranjan Sen, on Saturday clarified his statement, saying that the order was nothing "against secularism" and not influenced by any political ideology.

Taking to the official website of the Meghalaya High Court, Justice Sen wrote, "I do not belong to any political party nor have I got any dream to get any political berth after my retirement and neither is my judgment politically motivated or influenced by any party".

"Secularism is one of the basic structures of our Indian Constitution. It should not further be divided on the basis of religion, caste, creed, community or language... I would also like to clarify here that in my judgment nowhere I have said anything against secularism and my judgment makes references to the history and one cannot change the history," he added.

On Wednesday, Justice Sen sparked off a controversy, asserting that "India should have become a Hindu country after Partition". Sen was dealing with a petition by an Army recruit who was refused a domicile certificate by the Meghalaya government.

Read | India should have become Hindu state after partition, says Meghalaya High Court judge

"I make it clear that nobody should try to make India as another Islamic country, otherwise it will be a doomsday for India and the world," Sen said in his order.

The controversial statement by Sen raked up a political storm and had evoked wide condemnations from top lawyers, retired judges and across party lines with some of them seeking his impeachment.

While the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) slammed Sen for reflecting his political faith "akin to RSS ideology of Hindu Rashtra", Hyderabad lawmaker Asaduddin Owaisi said, "India is a secular and plural country and it will never become Islamic state".

Justice Sen, however, has defended his statement and said that his judgement was not outside the ambit of the constitution.

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"Whatever is the truth, history and real ground reality, on that basis I have written my judgement to save the citizens of India irrespective of caste, creed, religion or language and people should understand the history of India and live in peace and harmony," he posted on the official website of the Meghalaya High Court.