The National Council of the Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad, has passed a resolution calling for enactment of a law containing a code of conduct for retired Judges.
“The documented record is damning”, the Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad has stated while expressing its displeasure at retired judges appearing as expert witnesses before foreign courts in support of fugitives from Indian justice.
In a resolution passed on April 5, the body cited multiple instances where former judges testified in overseas courts in cases concerning high-profile economic offenders. The resolution was adopted at a meeting in Samalkha, Haryana.
According to ABAP, Retired Supreme Court Justice Deepak Verma has appeared against India’s interests in three foreign proceedings: the Mallya bankruptcy, the Sanjay Bhandari case (2025), and Nirav Modi v. Government of India (2026). In the last, he described India’s sovereign assurances as a “diplomatic promise” rather than a legally enforceable commitment, an opinion that, if accepted, could have undermined India’s extradition case, the lawyers body said.
In the resolution, the Parishad has highlighted how Justice Deepak Verma, Justice Markandey Katju, Justice Abhay Thipsay, and Late Justice Pana Chand Jain have appeared in separate foreign proceedings. As per the Parishad, Justice Deepak Verma (Retd., Supreme Court) had appeared in three separate foreign proceedings, including the Mallya bankruptcy, Sanjay Bhandari, and, recently, in Nirav Deepak Modi v. Government of India (2026).
The Parishad further highlighted that Justice Markandey Katju (Retd., SC) appeared for Niray Modi before Westminster Magistrates Court in 2021. Justice Abhay Thipsay (Retd., Bombay HC) appeared in the same 2021 proceedings. According to the Parishand, in Bhandari v. Government of India (2025) he was found to have become “a more combative witness” acting “as an advocate for the defendant rather than an independent expert.” Previously, Late Justice Pana Chand Jain (Retd., Rajasthan HC) also appeared for Mallya in 2019.
“The irony is that these noble men draw their pension from the Consolidated Fund of India, funded by the same citizens whose bank deposits were plundered by the fugitives they chose to assist. The Parishad records that Justice Deepak Verma, Justice Markandey Katju, Justice Abhay Thipsay, and Late Justice Pana Chand Jain have forfeited their moral entitlement to every benefit and designation flowing from the constitutional offices they once held”, the resolution read.
Similarly, Justice Abhay Thipsay was noted to have appeared in the same proceedings, where the court attached “no weight” to his evidence. In Bhandari v. Government of India [2025] EWHC 449 (Admin), he was further described as having acted “as an advocate for the defendant rather than an independent expert.” The Parishad also referred to the appearance of Late Justice Pana Chand Jain in proceedings relating to Vijay Mallya in 2019.
“Many former judges have, with exemplary restraint, declined post-retirement engagements that would conflict, or even appear to conflict,with the dignity and neutrality of the judicial office they once held”, it added.
In response, ABAP has called for the enactment of a “Judicial Officers (Post-Retirement Conduct and Accountability) Act.” Among its key proposals are mandatory disclosure of post-retirement engagements in matters of public significance, particularly cross-border disputes; a complete prohibition on former constitutional court judges testifying in foreign proceedings adverse to India’s sovereign interests; and stringent consequences for violations, including forfeiture of pension and retiral benefits.
The ABAP has also asked the Union Government to set up a committee to draft a bill on the matter. It wants the draft prepared within 60 days and placed before Parliament for consideration.
