<p>"I am thankful to Justice Gokhale (who was then Chief Justice of Madras High Court when the purported incident occurred)," Reghupathi said, without elaborating.<br /><br />"I am not supposed to react. I did not make the issue public even at the time of the incident since I wanted to uphold the dignity of the legal fraternity. It applies to me today even after retirement," he told PTI.<br /><br />He refused to join issue with former Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan, who had last week denied that Raja's name was in the report sent by the then Madras High Court Chief Justice Gokhale.<br /><br />Gokhale today contradicted Balakrishnan's claim that he was not aware that it was Raja who had tried to influence Justice Reghupathi in a case and said he had clearly referred to Raja's name in his letter to Justice Balakrishnan.<br /><br />Justice Reghupati said his action of not joining issue on the controversy was not driven by fear but the need to uphold the court's dignity.<br /><br />He said only jurists can comment on the issue and not himself.</p>
<p>"I am thankful to Justice Gokhale (who was then Chief Justice of Madras High Court when the purported incident occurred)," Reghupathi said, without elaborating.<br /><br />"I am not supposed to react. I did not make the issue public even at the time of the incident since I wanted to uphold the dignity of the legal fraternity. It applies to me today even after retirement," he told PTI.<br /><br />He refused to join issue with former Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan, who had last week denied that Raja's name was in the report sent by the then Madras High Court Chief Justice Gokhale.<br /><br />Gokhale today contradicted Balakrishnan's claim that he was not aware that it was Raja who had tried to influence Justice Reghupathi in a case and said he had clearly referred to Raja's name in his letter to Justice Balakrishnan.<br /><br />Justice Reghupati said his action of not joining issue on the controversy was not driven by fear but the need to uphold the court's dignity.<br /><br />He said only jurists can comment on the issue and not himself.</p>