The Supreme Court on Wednesday, September 25 said judges should refrain from making casual remarks which are misogynistic or biased towards any community. The comments were made during the hearing of a suo motu case involving Karnataka High Court judge’s controversial remarks, which were live-streamed and later went viral on social media.
Justice Srishananda made controversial statements, referring to a Muslim-majority area in Bengaluru as ‘Pakistan’ and making a gender-insensitive remark to a woman lawyer.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, heading a five-judge bench that included Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, Surya Kant, and Hrishikesh Roy, said, “No one can call any part of India as Pakistan. It is fundamentally against the territorial integrity of the nation." The court also highlighted that openness and transparency in court proceedings are essential. "The answer to sunlight is more sunlight, not to suppress what happens in court. The answer is not to close it down," CJI Chandrachud remarked.
The bench had taken suo motu cognizance of video clips featuring the Karnataka High Court judge, Justice Srishananda’s remarks, which were deemed inappropriate and led to significant public backlash.
On September 20, the Supreme Court sought a detailed report from the Registrar General of the Karnataka High Court regarding the incident. Upon reviewing the report during Wednesday’s hearing, the apex court noted that the judge had issued a public apology on September 21. Taking the apology into account, the bench decided not to pursue the case further. "Bearing in mind the apology which has been tendered by the judge of the High Court... we consider it in the interest of justice and the dignity of the institution to not pursue these proceedings further," the court stated.
Amid demands by various sections of the Bar to halt the live streaming of Karnataka High Court proceedings due to alleged misuse of the court videos on social media, the apex court also rejected the notion of halting live streaming and said, "Closure of doors is not the answer to the problem." He added that in the digital age, where widespread reporting and live streaming of court proceedings provide greater access to justice, judges must exercise caution in their comments.
“In an age where there is widespread reporting of every proceeding which takes place in the court, particularly in the context of live-streaming which is intended to provide access to justice to citizens, it is all the more necessary that judges exercise due restraint and responsibility in observations made in the course of proceedings," the court said.
