Supreme Court objects to Karnataka HC judge calling Bengaluru locality 'Pakistan'

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Friday took a dim view of Karnataka HC judge V Srishananda's purported gratuitous reference to a Muslim-majority Bengaluru locality as Pakistan, and said it would consider laying down guidelines to keep judges from getting carried away during judicial proceedings and ending up being the butt of ridicule on social media.

CJI D Y Chandrachud took suo motu cognisance of Justice Srishananda's controversial reference to a Bengaluru locality in the course of observations on traffic rule violation, which trended on social media along with his misogynistic comment aimed at a woman lawyer. The CJI constituted a bench of the top five judges - Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, Surya Kant and Hrishikesh Roy besides him - to record SC's displeasure over judges going overboard in their remarks during judicial proceedings. The bench asked the HC registrar general to consult the chief justice and file a report on the unsavoury remarks.

Justice Srishananda was appointed an additional judge of Karnataka HC on May 4, 2020, and was made permanent on Sept 25, 2021.

SC may consider laying down norms for judicial proceedings

In a bid to preserve the dignity of judiciary and people's faith in it, a CJI-led Supreme Court bench said it would consider laying down guidelines for smooth conduct of judicial proceedings to help maintain the sanctity of proceedings and insulate them from being subjected to public ridicule because of a few voluble judges.

The court took suo motu cognisance of Karnataka HC judge V Srishananda's controversial reference to a Bengaluru locality as "Pakistan" during a hearing.

The bench said with increasing number of people watching live telecast of judicial proceedings, the resultant scrutiny on social media required judges to exercise restraint during proceedings to avoid gratuitous or impertinent remarks.

The bench sought the assistance of attorney general R Venkataramani and solicitor general Tushar Mehta in laying down guidelines and taking the suo motu proceedings to its logical end.

In its order, the CJI-led bench said, "The attention of the court has been drawn to media reports pertaining to certain comments which have been made by a judge of Karnataka HC, Justice V Srishananda, during the conduct of judicial proceedings. We have requested the AG and SG to assist this court. At this stage, we request the registrar general of Karnataka HC to submit a report to this court after seeking administrative directions from Chief Justice N V Anjaria in regard to the subject matter. This exercise may be carried out in the next two days and a report be submitted to the secretary general." The bench posted the matter for further hearing on Wednesday.

With hearings in SC and HCs going live after the Covid pandemic, comments of judges, especially colourful ones and those that sound like scolds, acquire virality on social media, bringing judges and courts under public scrutiny.

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