Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday flagged the government’s concern over “social media campaigns” conducted against individual judges for their judicial opinions and judgments.
The Minister, who is also in charge of the Information Technology, Electronics and Communications portfolios, criticised “some people” who file PILs in court, campaign on social media for a particular judgment, and later troll judges when the verdict does not meet their expectations. He termed it “campaign justice”.
Judiciary should be free to work in accordance with the rule of law, Mr. Prasad said.
Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde said judges had become quite used to the PIL route being used for filing frivolous petitions.
“The administration of justice is often tried to be made difficult by some vested interests. But that is something we as judges have got used to,” CJI Bobde said.
They were speaking in Goa at the inaugural function of the new building of the Bombay High Court.
“I am a great supporter of social media. It is empowering. Social media enables people to ask questions, to criticise the Prime Minister, us and all. That is part of a healthy democracy. Therefore, we all encourage that,” Mr. Prasad said.
But he said there was a “disturbing trend” on the rise in social media.
“Some people file PILs, then they start a campaign on social media ‘that only this type of judgment is possible in this case’. And, if the judgment does not come in accord with what they perceive to be their right, then they start not only criticising the judges but also trolling judges... You can always criticise a judgment, that’s your right, but if you start campaigning against a judge on social media, it is plainly not fair,” Mr. Prasad said
The Law Minister said the smooth transition of the courts to the virtual mode during the pandemic was a “remarkable achievement”. A total of over 82 lakh cases were heard through video conferencing.
Chief Justice Bobde said courtrooms would surely shrink in the future with the e-filing of cases. The requirement of large storage spaces would be a thing of the past.
“Though building more courtrooms is necessary and important, there was very little emphasis on modernising the existing courtrooms. Though the pandemic has posed a lot of problems to access to justice, it has paved the way for modernising the courtroom,” Chief Justice Bobde said.
The CJI said he had spent so much time on the Bench in Goa that he is often referred to as a “Goa judge”.
The CJI drew attention to the fact that Goa is the only the State that implements the Uniform Civil Code as envisaged by the framers of the Indian Constitution. He said “intellectuals” ought to study the Goa model of the Code.
