New Delhi, July 3
Supreme Court Judge Justice JB Pardiwala on Sunday said that digital and social media in the country need to be compulsorily regulated to maintain the rule of law under the Constitution. Agenda driven attacks on judges”.
Justice Pardiwala made the remarks at an event here when a division raged on the harsh verbal remarks of a vacation bench of which he was a member, against suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma for her controversial remarks against Prophet Mohammad.
The top court had said that his “loose tongue” has “set the whole country on fire” and he should apologise.
The observations of the bench, which refused to club the FIRs registered against Sharma across the country, sparked a debate, including on digital and social media platforms, which also led to some vulgar remarks against the judges.
“In India, which cannot be classified as a mature and an informed democracy, social and digital media are often employed to politicize purely legal and constitutional issues,” said Justice Pardiwala and Ayodhya Give the example of land dispute case.
He said that the trial by digital media is an unwarranted interference in the justice system. The judge, who was recently elevated to the top court, said, “The crossing of the Lakshman Rekha several times, this is particularly more worrying.”
Justice Pardiwala was speaking with the Confederation of National Law Universities (Cain Foundation) at the 2nd Justice HR Khanna Memorial National Symposium organized by Dr Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University, Lucknow and National Law University, Odisha.
“Digital and social media need to be compulsorily regulated in the country to maintain the rule of law under our Constitution…
“The attacks on our judges for judging will lead to a dangerous scenario where judges will have to pay more attention to what the media thinks rather than what the law actually says. It sets the rule of law on fire while ignoring the sanctity of respect for the courts,” he said.
Speaking on the topic ‘Vox Populi v Rule of Law: Supreme Court of India’, Justice Pardiwala said, “Judicial decisions cannot be a reflection of the influence of public opinion.”
Observing that the rule of law has to prevail over popular public sentiment, the apex court judge observed that balancing the intention and demand of the majority population on the one hand and upholding the rule of law on the other is a “difficult”. practice”. ,
“To tread the link between the two requires extreme judicial craftsmanship, where people thinking ‘log kya kahenge, log kya thinkenge’ (what people will say, what people will think) is a puzzle that each judge has to face when also comes to pen a decision,” he said.
Talking about digital and social media, he said that these sections have only half the truth and start investigating the judicial process.
He said that he was also not aware of the concept of judicial discipline, binding precedents and inherent limitations of judicial discretion.
“This section of the people, versed in half-truths, is the real challenger to get justice through the rule of law,” he said.
“Social and digital media nowadays mainly resort to constructive critical evaluation of judges’ decisions rather than expressing personal opinion against them. It is harming judicial institutions and undermining this dignity,” he said.
Justice Pardiwala said constitutional courts have always gracefully accepted informed dissent and constructive criticism and that the legal ethos has always restrained “personal, agenda-driven attacks” on judges.
He added that judges should not participate in social media discussions because “judges never speak with their tongues, only their decisions.” He concluded his address by saying that “the judiciary may not be independent of society but the rule of law is infallible.”