The Supreme Court on Wednesday cautioned courts against making comments that may be construed as “misogynistic” or directed towards a particular “gender or community” and said no part of Indian territory can be called Pakistan.
The apex court’s strong observations came as it closed the suo motu proceedings over Karnataka High Court judge Justice V Srishananda’s alleged objectionable comments during court proceedings. The Supreme Court also noted that he had apologised for his observations during open court proceedings on September 21.
A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud observed that since Justice Srishananda was not a party to proceedings before it, “we desist from making any further observations save and except to express our serious concern about both the reference to gender and to a segment of the community”.
Referring to the text of a report submitted before it by the registrar general of the Karnataka High Court, the bench said it amply indicated that observations made in the course of proceedings there were unrelated to the course of proceedings and should have best been eschewed.
“The perception of justice to every segment of society is as important as the rendition of justice as an objective fact,” it said.
“Such observations are liable to be construed in a negative light, thereby impacting not only the court of the judge who express them but the wider judicial system,” it said.
After the bench dictated the order in the court room, Attorney General R Venkataramani referred to some messages on X about the observations.