2024-09-27 19:32:03
New Delhi : The dispute was between landlord and tenant. The hearing was going on in the Karnataka High Court. Karnataka High Court Justice Ved Vyaschar Sreeshananda during the hearing described the ‘Muslim dominated’ area of Bengaluru as Pakistan. The Supreme Court itself took cognizance of the comment. Then the judge had to apologize and now finally the Supreme Court closed the proceedings in this case. CJI DY Chandrachud remarked on Wednesday that no part of the country can be called Pakistan, it is against the integrity of the country. Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice BR Gavai, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hrishikesh Roy. A 5-judge bench of the Supreme Court warned the judges and lawyers that while discharging their duties, they should ensure that their personal biases are not reflected. Karnataka High Court also spoke to a woman lawyer in objectionable language.
The bench said, ‘We cannot call any part of India as Pakistan because it is fundamentally against the integrity of the country.’ However, after the High Court judge apologized for his statement, the apex court closed the proceedings initiated on its own in this case.
The top court said, ‘This careless comment reflects personal prejudices, especially when it is considered to be directed towards a certain gender or community. Therefore, one should avoid making patriarchal or negative comments towards women. We express our serious concern about the comments made on a certain gender or community and such comments should be taken negatively.’
The court said that in the age of social media, any comment made by judges can have a wider impact, and hence judges should be aware of their biases so that they can deliver justice impartially.
The court said, ‘The proliferation and reach of social media has entailed extensive reporting of court proceedings. Most of the High Courts in the country have now adopted rules for conducting live-streaming or video conferencing which emerged as a need during the Corona pandemic… All parties, judges, lawyers, litigants should be aware that the proceedings Reaches audiences that extend far beyond the physical confines of the court and thus all should be aware of the broader impact of comments on the community. As judges we are conscious of the fact that every person has a set of prejudices based on experiences early or later in life. It is important that a judge is aware of his own biases, and the heart and soul of a judge is only when they are impartial and only then can we deliver objective justice.’
Two videos of Justice Shrishananda of Karnataka High Court went viral on social media. In a video, he was seen calling a Muslim-dominated area in West Bengaluru as ‘Pakistan’. In another video, he was seen reprimanding a woman lawyer for answering a question asked by the lawyer of the opposite side. The judge was seen jokingly telling the woman lawyer that she seemed to know a lot about the opposite party, and she could even tell the color of her undergarments next time.
The Supreme Court had taken suo motu cognizance of these comments made by the judge and had sought a report on this from the Karnataka High Court. After the top court took cognizance, the judge apologized.