Can’t call any part of India ‘Pakistan’: CJI Chandrachud objects to Karnataka HC judge remark

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.”

CJI Chandrachud made the comments when the Supreme Court was hearing a suo motu case concerning the controversial comments made by Karnataka High Court judge Justice V Srishananda. The judge had later expressed regret in the open court.

Karnataka High Court judge Justice V Srishananda had sparked a controversy last week by referring to a particular locality in Bengaluru as 'Pakistan'.

Two videos of Justice Srishananda had gone viral on social media. In one of the clips, he referred to a Muslim-dominated sub-locality in West Bengaluru as "Pakistan". In another video, he was seen reprimanding a woman lawyer for answering a question put to the counsel for the opposite party.

On September 20, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, took serious note of two videos and sought a report from the Registrar General of the High Court.

A five-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant and Hrishikesh Roy heard the suo motu matter relating to the viral videos Justice V Srishanandan on Wednesday, September 25.

The Supreme Court decided not to pursue the matter further in the light of the regret expressed by the Judge in the open court after the Supreme Court's intervention over the viral video clips.

Karnataka HC judge expresses regret

Justice V Srishananda of the Karnataka High Court had later expressed regret over the remark. On Saturday afternoon, as the court proceedings commenced, Justice Srishananda read out his statement in this connection.

The HC judge was quoted by PTI 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."

'Need for judges to express restraint'

The Supreme Court on Wednesday made several significant observations on the need for the judges to express restraint, particularly in the age 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 said during the hearing on Wednesday, "One must be wary of making patriarchal or misogynistic comment."

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 added.

CJI DY Chandrachud said that the controversy over remarks of judges is not a reason to close live-streaming. "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.