Judges hit headlines for controversial utterances

Year 2024 witnessed unprecedented controversies as several high court judges hit national headlines for their controversial utterances and orders, forcing the Supreme Court to intervene to set things right.

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Twice five-judge Benches of the Supreme Court had to assemble to clear the mess created by remarks made by judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Karnataka HC. The third case of an Allahabad HC judge turned out to be even more serious, leading to proceedings for his removal.

On August 6, the Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of certain comments made by Justice Rajbir Sehrawat of the Punjab and Haryana High Court against it for staying contempt proceedings in a case pending before his Bench. In his July 17 order, Justice Sehrawat also commented the Supreme Court had the tendency to presume it was more “Supreme” than it actually was and to presume a High Court to be less “high” than it constitutionally was.

Terming it as “absolutely unwarranted” and “a matter of great concern”, the Supreme Court on August 7 expunged Justice Sehrawat’s remarks against it. “Compliance with the orders passed by the Supreme Court is not a matter of choice but a matter of bounden constitutional obligation… Whether individual judges are in agreement with merits or otherwise of an order passed by superior court is beside the point,” a five-judge Bench led by the then CJI Chandrachud said, reminding him that every judge was bound by discipline.

In September, Karnataka HC Judge Vedavyasachar Srishananda’s comment that a particular Muslim-dominated area of Bengaluru was in Pakistan created another uproar. “Go to that Mysore Road flyover. Every auto-rickshaw has 10 people. It is not applicable because the Mysore flyover right up to the flower market from Gori Palya is in Pakistan… not in India. This is the reality… No matter how strict a police officer you put there, they will be beaten up there,” Justice Srishananda was seen saying in a video clip of a hearing that went viral on social media. Taking suo motu cognisance of Justice Srishananda’s remarks, the SC on September 20 sought a report from the HC Registrar General. “You can’t call any part of the country Pakistan,” a five-judge Bench led by the then CJI Chandrachud said, cautioning judges against casual comments reflecting personal biases. However, it closed the proceedings on the issue after he expressed regret.

But the case of Allahabad High Court Judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav’s alleged remarks against Muslims at a VHP legal cell event earlier this month led to Opposition MPs giving a notice for motion for his removal.

Taking a judicial note of the conduct of Justice Yadav over his speech in which he allegedly endorsed the UCC and made certain controversial remarks against Muslims, the Supreme Court on December 10 called for details from the high court.

On December 17, Justice Yadav appeared before the SC Collegium led by CJI Sanjiv Khanna to explain his position. The Collegium members strongly disapproved of Justice Yadav’s comments, it was reliably learnt.

However, the future course of action on the part of the Collegium was unclear. As 55 Opposition Rajya Sabha MPs gave a notice for moving a motion to remove Justice Yadav as a judge for his alleged misconduct, Justice Yadav’s fate hangs in balance.