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    Can’t Call Any Part Of India As Pakistan Or Make Misogynistic Comments: SC To Karnataka HC Judge

    New Delhi: After accepting his apology read out in court, Supreme Court five-judge special bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Wednesday closed suo motu proceedings against Karnataka High Court judge for certain highly objectionable and controversial comments made during court proceedings

    During two separate hearings, video clips of which had become viral through social media, Justice V Srishananda was seen making objectionable remarks against a woman advocate. In another he is seen referring to an area in Bangalore as “Pakistan” while commenting about poor law and order situation

    10 HIGHLIGHTS OF SC HEARING.KEY REMARKS FROM CJI CHANDRACHUD WHO LED THE BENCH

    CJI: No one can call any part of India as Pakistan! It is fundamentally against the territorial integrity of the nation.

    CJI bench issues code of conduct, Do’s & Don’ts for judges, lawyers, litigants while in court.

    CJI continues to back live streaming of court proceedings. “Answer to sunlight is more sunlight and not to suppress what happens in court. The answer is not to close it down.”

    We desisted from issuing notice to maintain diginity of courts:CJI

    But we need to make some remarks to preserve dignity of judicial system.

    CJI: One must remember that prevalence of social media has led to wide reportage of court proceedings, it reaches audiences who are well beyond physical precincts of the court.

    Judges must avoid casual remarks against a particular gender or community; IT brings out personal biases.

    Judges must be aware of impact of casual observations on community at large: CJI

    WE urge some restraint, self regulation and modulation from all stakeholders judges, lawyers,litigants.

    The detailed order:

    “We resisted issuing notice to maintain dignity of the courts.But we have to make certain remarks for preservation of dignity of judicial system. Considering the apology, we consider in interest of justice, dignity of institution not to continue the proceedings. Further prevalence of social media has led to wide reportage of court proceedings reach audiences who are well beyond physical precincts of the court. All must be aware of impact of observations on community at large. SO there is added responsibility on litigants, lawyers, judges not to make casual remarks. as judges we shud be conscious of fact that each individual bears pre-dispositions based on experiences of life same time its important every judge should be aware of his role.Casual remarks will indicate bias particularly when directed at a particular gender or community. So we must avoid comments during judicial proceedings especially of mysogynistic type .

    Though we are inclined to close the proceedings, we urge modulation on behalf of all stakeholders judges, lawyers,litigants

    CJI, when Attorney General R Venkataramani praised the order and spoke about the reach of social media, Karnataka HC banning uploading of video clips of court proceedings: “No one can call any part of India as Pakistan! It is fundamentally against the territorial integrity of the nation. The answer to sunlight is more sunlight and not to suppress what happens in court. The answer is not to close it down.”

    BACKGROUND

    CJI had sought assistance of AG R Venkataramani and SG Tushar Mehta in the case. The CJI also sought a report from Registrar General of Karnataka HC. “We may lay down some guidelines in this regard”, the Bench had said.

    CJI said 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.

    The suo motu cognisance came after Senior Advocate Indira Jaising posted the video clip on her X account, tweeting that Justice Srishananda should be trained on gender sensitisation.

    “We call upon the Chief Justice of India to take suo motu action against this judge and send him for gender sensitisation training,” Jaising posted on X.

    FOLLOWING SC SNUB, JUDGE APOLOGISED

    “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,” the HC judge said.

    VIDEO UPLOADING BAN

    Another bench of the court also prohibited the public from using or uploading videos of court proceedings.

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