Justice (Retd.) B. Sudershan Reddy, the INDIA bloc’s candidate for Vice President, recently responded to renewed critiques from Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his landmark 2011 ruling which disbanded the Salwa Judum, a militia mobilized in Chhattisgarh.

Amit Shah claimed that, had the ruling not been passed, “Naxal terrorism would have ended by 2020,” and accused Justice Reddy of harboring Naxal sympathies. Reddy rejected this, asserting that the verdict merely underscored the constitutional principle: the State alone must wield force—it cannot outsource that responsibility to untrained civilian groups. He memorably declared, “Don’t outsource it.”

Moreover, Reddy expressed genuine astonishment that such criticism is being voiced 14 years after the judgment—especially when the State was actively battling Naxal violence at the time. The timing, he implied, raises questions about the political motive behind the commentary.

Amit Shah also referenced another decision by Reddy—ordering the evacuation of schools used by security forces in Maoist areas. Reddy rebuffed the criticism, stating that impeding children’s right to education by turning schools into barracks was indefensible.