Ranchi: An advocate denied promotion as a judge by the Supreme Court collegium because of his purported links to unnamed organisations has said he is associated with the Ananda Marga, which describes itself as a spiritual and social service organisation.
In a resolution made public on Friday, the collegium had said it found Pankaj Kumar, a veteran advocate, unsuitable for elevation as judge in Jharkhand High Court and cited his "associations/links with many over-ground front organisations". The collegium did not name any outfit.
Kumar, who hails from Palamau, told The Telegraph on Saturday: "I was born and brought up with the Ananda Marga. There is no organisation other than this that I am associated with. I studied at one of the schools run by the Ananda Marga at Anandnagar in Bihar's Banka area. My association with the outfit is for seeking spiritual solace and meditation.
"I'm not disappointed nor do I regret anything. Rather, I shall serve people and keep pursuing my noble profession with honesty and renewed energy now."
Headquartered in Bengal's Purulia district, the Ananda Marga had grown rapidly, especially in Bihar where it was founded, in the 1960s and then fallen afoul of Indira Gandhi.
An Ananda Margi is an accused in an assassination attempt in 1975 on the then Chief Justice of India, A.N. Roy, who had been handpicked by Indira and would be instrumental a year later in an Emergency-era judgment that suspended citizens' right to challenge detentions. The appeal in the case is still pending.
"We are a religious organisation as per a Supreme Court order of 1983," Swami Divyachetananada Avadhuta said on behalf of the Ananda Marga on Friday.