You cannot say judges are pro-government, says Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday refuted the perception that its judges are pro-government and that they will do whatever the government wants them to do.

Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, who was sitting with the Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice A.M. Kanwilkar, refuted the charges made in this regard by a senior advocate in a television debate. The judge made this observation during the course of hearing of a petition relating to comments made by former UP Minister Azam Khan. Justice Chandrachud observed, “The (former) President of Supreme Court bar association said on electronic media (during a debate on the transfer of Karnataka high court judge Jayant Patel to Allahabad high court) that the Supreme Court was dominated by pro government judges. That is not true. Someone has to just come and sit in court one day to see in how many cases the government gets hauled over the coals in favour of citizens’ rights.”

Referring to misuse of social media, where people spread false information about court proceedings without cross checking facts, Justice Chandrachud pointed out that often oral observations of judges and the discussions taking place between judges and lawyers are reported as judgments of this court and all types of comments are being made.  The CJI said there should be a distinction between free speech and right to abuse others. Earlier, senior advocates Fali Nariman and Harish Salve submitted that the comments on social media like Twitter and Facebook are horrible and there was an urgent need to regulate them.