New Delhi [India], September 25 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that social media can't be controlled and one can't call any part of the country as Pakistan when it closed the suo motu proceedings against Karnataka High Court judge for his objectionable comments observing that the judicial officer has apologised on the observation made by him.
A five judge bench led by Chief Justice of DY Chandrachud and also comprising justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant and Hrishikesh Roy closed the suo motu proceedings initiated over Karnataka High Court judge's objectionable comments.
The top court noted that Karnataka High Court judge has apologised for his comments in the open court and said that it did not want to pursue it further in the interest of justice and dignity of the institution.
The top court said that one can't call any part of the country as Pakistan as such comments hit the territorial integrity of the country.
The top court also took note of the controversies that raised a demand for stopping live streaming of court proceedings and said that the answer to sunlight is more sunlight to bring maximum transparency in judicial proceedings. The court also commented that social media cannot be controlled and answer is not not to close it down.
The top court also said judges should be careful during the court proceedings and refrain from using "misogynistic or prejudicial comments". The top court remarked that casual observation may indicate certain bias, particularly when they are directed against a certain gender or community.
The top court said that in the age of social media, any observations by judges can have a wide impact, and thus, judges should be aware of their predispositions so that they can deliver justice impartially.
The Supreme Court on last Friday took suo motu cognisance of the media reports pertaining to certain comments made by a Karnataka High Court judge.
The video clips of the judge have surfaced on the social media platform X, with several prominent advocates calling suo moto action aginst him.
The two video clips of one of the judge
the Karnataka High Court surfaced on social media platforms and in one of the videos he was heard making gender insensitive comments against a woman lawyer while another video the judge referred to a Muslim dominated locality in Bengaluru as "Pakistan".