'No part of India can be called Pakistan': CJI Chandrachud rebukes Karnataka HC Judge’s remark
- In Reports
- 05:52 PM, Sep 25, 2024
- Myind Staff
Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud said on Wednesday, “You can't call any part of the territory of India as ‘Pakistan’. It is fundamentally contrary to the territorial integrity of the nation.” His remark was followed by the rebuke of the Karnataka HC Judge V Srishananda’s reference to a Bangalore region as Pakistan. Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud made remarks while the Supreme Court was hearing a suo motu case related to controversial comments made by Karnataka High Court judge Justice V. Srishananda. The judge later apologised for his comments in open court. Judge V Srishananda of the Karnataka High Court caused a stir last week when he referred to a specific Bengaluru locality as "Pakistan."
Justice Srishananda appeared in two videos that went viral on social media. He called a West Bengaluru sub-locality with a majority of Muslims "Pakistan" in one of the clips. In an additional video, he could be seen chastising a female attorney for responding to a query directed at the opposing counsel. A five-judge Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud took serious notice of two videos on September 20 and sought a report from the High Court's Registrar General.
On Wednesday, September 25, a five-judge bench made up of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant, and Hrishikesh Roy heard the suo motu matter pertaining to the viral videos Justice V Srishanandan. Following the Supreme Court's intervention over the viral video clips, the judge expressed regret in open court, and the Supreme Court decided not to pursue the matter further.
The Karnataka High Court's Justice V Srishananda later expressed regret for the comment. On Saturday afternoon, as the court proceedings commenced, Justice Srishananda read out his statement in this connection. PTI quoted the HC judge as saying, "A few observations made during judicial proceedings were reported out of context on social media platforms. The observations were unintentional and not meant to hurt any individual or any section of society. If such observations hurt any individual or any section of society or community, I express my sincere regrets."
The Supreme Court made several observations on the need for judges to exercise restraint on Wednesday, especially in light of the widespread use of electronic media. "Casual observations may well reflect a certain degree of individual bias particularly when they are likely to be perceived as being directed against a particular gender or community.
Courts therefore have to be careful not to make comments in the course of judicial proceedings which may be construed as being misogynistic or prejudicial to any segment of our society," Live Law reported while citing the Supreme Court's order.
The CJI remarked during the hearing on Wednesday, "One must be wary of making patriarchal or misogynistic comments." He was quoted as saying, “The heart and soul of judging is the need to be impartial and fair. Intrinsic to that process is the need for every judge to be aware of our own predispositions because it is only on the basis of such awareness that we can truly be faithful to the fundamental obligation of the judge to deliver objective and fair justice.”
“We emphasise this because it is necessary for every stakeholder to understand that the only values which must guide judicial decision-making are those which are enshrined in the Constitution of India,” the court said. According to CJI DY Chandrachud, live streaming should not be stopped because of the backlash over judges' comments. "Answer to sunlight is more sunlight. Not to suppress what happens in the Court. This is a very important reminder to everyone. The answer is not to close doors and shut everything down", the CJI reportedly said.
Comments