The Supreme Court, on Friday, September 20, has taken suo motu cognizance of the controversial comments made by Justice Vedavyasachar Srishananda of the Karnataka High Court. A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud has sought a report from the Karnataka HC on the matter. The action comes after two video clips of divisive and misogynistic comments made by the judge went viral on social media.
LiveLaw reported the CJI saying, "In this age of social media, we are closely watched, and we have to act accordingly."
In the first video, Justice Srishananda refers to Goripalya - a neighborhood in west Bengaluru which has a sizable Muslim population - as Pakistan. Speaking about traffic issues near the Mysore Road flyover, he says, “Go to Mysore road flyover, every auto rickshaw has 10 people. It is not applicable because the Mysore flyover head left to the market from Gori Palya is in Pakistan, not in India. This is the reality. No matter how strict a police officer you put there, they will be beaten up there.”
In the second video, the judge is seen reprimanding a woman lawyer by making a gender insensitive comment. In the video clip, the judge is initially talking to a male advocate and asks if the person they are talking about is an income tax assessee. To this question, a woman lawyer answers in the affirmative, following which the judge goes on to say, “Wait amma. You know everything about him. If asked tomorrow, you will tell what colour of undergarment he wears.” He makes the comment despite the woman advocate apologising.
Based on these videos, the SC bench, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant and Hrishikesh Roy told Attorney General R Venkatramani that basic guidelines might be laid in the matter. Further, the bench directed the Registrar General of the Karnataka HC to get administrative directions from the Chief Justice of the HC and submit a report to the Supreme Court within two days. The case is posted for hearing on September 23.