Apart from this clear indictment of the central agency, while presiding over a vacation bench last week, Justice Krishna made headlines by cracking down on targeted online campaigns against members of the judiciary.
However, in a different case that came up later in the week, Justice Krishna also made it clear that initiation of criminal contempt of court cases may not be the most effective or efficient strategy against such social media users.
In this case, Justice Krishna refused to take suo motu cognisance of the trolling of a Saket Court judge who stayed the order for registration of FIR against Abhijit Iyer-Mitra for his alleged objectionable comments on Newslaundry and its journalists.
Justice Krishna said that comments like "pathetic judge" or "rotten institution" are made about judges on a routine basis, even by lawyers themselves.
If we start taking cognisance of this… It’s not a case where I can take [suo motu] cognisance of this,” Justice Krishna remarked.
Apart from this clear indictment of the central agency, while presiding over a vacation bench last week, Justice Krishna made headlines by cracking down on targeted online campaigns against members of the judiciary.
While hearing a criminal contempt petition filed by the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) against a social media user who allegedly posted scandalous videos blaming a sitting judge for the tragic Saket building collapse, the Bench of Justices Krishna and Madhu Jain observed,
“Any endeavour to use them [social media tools], to cause harm to the society or to interfere the independence of Judiciary and to malign the institutions and individuals, cannot be accepted in this country, where Rule of Law and principles enshrined in the Constitution of India, prevail."
However, in a different case that came up later in the week, Justice Krishna also made it clear that initiation of criminal contempt of court cases may not be the most effective or efficient strategy against such social media users.
In this case, Justice Krishna refused to take suo motu cognisance of the trolling of a Saket Court judge who stayed the order for registration of FIR against Abhijit Iyer-Mitra for his alleged objectionable comments on Newslaundry and its journalists.
Justice Krishna said that comments like "pathetic judge" or "rotten institution" are made about judges on a routine basis, even by lawyers themselves.
“I still don’t find it of nature to be taken cognisance of. We are not finding that any extraordinary measures are required. It [one of the tweets] says “pathetic judge”. When you [lawyers] are standing in the corridor, is that not the general conversation? You don’t get an order in your favour, and you say who has made this person a judge. If we start taking cognisance of this… It’s not a case where I can take [suo motu] cognisance of this,” Justice Krishna remarked.
