The Supreme Court today sought a report from the Karnataka High Court over controversial remarks made by Justice Vedavyasachar Srishananda during a recent court hearing. Justice Srishananda, while addressing a landlord-tenant dispute, referred to a Muslim-majority area in Bengaluru as “Pakistan” and made a misogynistic comment involving a woman lawyer.
A five-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, along with Justices S Khanna, B R Gavai, S Kant, and H Roy, expressed the need for establishing clear guidelines for constitutional court judges regarding their remarks in court. The Supreme Court bench said that when social media plays an active role in monitoring and amplifying courtroom proceedings, there is an urgency to ensure judicial commentary aligns with the decorum expected from courts of law.
“Attention has been drawn to media reports to the comments made by Justice…of Karnataka High Court during the court proceedings. We request the Karnataka High Court to submit a report after seeking instructions from the Chief Justice of the high court,” Chief Justice Chandrachud said. We may lay down some basic guidelines.”
Chief Justice Chandrachud ordered the report to be filed and submitted within two days. The hearing of the matter is scheduled for Wednesday, next week.
Videos of Justice Srishanananda have gone viral on social media.
In one video, he refers to a Muslim-dominated locality in Bengaluru as “Pakistan” and on another video he was seen making objectionable comments against a woman lawyer. In the second incident, Justice Srishanananda can be heard telling the woman lawyer that she seemed to know a lot about the “opposition party”, so much so that she might be able to reveal the colour of their undergarments.