The Opinion article examines the political vilification of Justice B Sudershan Reddy over the Supreme Court's ruling in Nandini Sundar v State of Chhattisgarh (2011), which struck down the Salwa Judum policy as unconstitutional. It argues that while criticism of judicial decisions is entirely legitimate, imputing motives to judges crosses a constitutional red line, one the Supreme Court itself drew in CK Daphtary v OP Gupta (1971). The piece situates this concern institutionally: judicial independence does not erode in a single dramatic moment, but through the steady delegitimisation of constitutional reasoning.