A lawyer threw a shoe at the Chief Justice of India, Justice BR Gavai, in court recently, alleging that the CJI had insulted Hinduism
In an earlier petition in his court, seeking a direction to the authorities to restore a damaged idol of the Hindu god Vishnu in Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, Justice Gavai reportedly said to the petitioner ” Pray to Vishnu ”, a remark which had no relevance to the legal issues of the case being heard, and which infuriated many Hindus, who felt that the remark hurt their religious sentiments
Justice Gavai, on a plea in a petition before the Supreme Court by a Hindu to restore the beheaded idol of Lord Vishnu at Khajuraho reportedly said:
“Go and ask the deity itself to do something. You say you are a staunch devotee of Lord Vishnu. So go and pray to it (to restore its own head).”
I condemn the throwing of a shoe at Justice Gavai. But at the same time I wish to say that talking too much in court by judges only invites such incidents.
There is an oft quoted maxim of former Lord Chancellor of England Sir Francis Bacon ” A much talking judge is like an ill tuned cymbal ” ( Jo judge bohot bolta hai woh besura baaja jaisa hota hai ).
I was sad to note that some judges have this habit of talking too much in court ( sometimes on matters which have no relevance to the merits of the case being heard ), which they should refrain from and eschew. This advice of mine should not be taken as an admonition, but as a counsel coming from an elder brother ( I retired as a Supreme Court Judge in 2011, and am now 79 years old ).
The job of a judge is to hear, not talk, in Court, and then decide whatever they thought was was proper.
I once went to the British High Court in London to witness the proceedings in Court. There was almost pin drop silence, the judge quietly hearing, and the counsel arguing in a very low tone. Occasionally the judge asked a question to the lawyer to clarify some point, otherwise he was silent throughout.
That is how the atmosphere of a Court should be, of serenity, calm, and tranquillity, the lawyer speaking in a low voice, and the judge quietly hearing. Of course, ultimately the verdict is in the hands of the judge.
But what have I noticed of late ( the proceedings are often shown on youtube)? I saw former CJI Chandrachud talking on and on in Court e.g. in the case relating to a lady doctor of RG Kar Medical College, Kolkata, who was raped and murdered, asking questions like why there was delay in filing the FIR ( questions which should have really been asked by the investigating officer or the trial court ), etc. I noticed a similar thing recently regarding the bail hearing in the Supreme Court of Prof Ali Khan Mahmadubad.
I was glad that interim bail was granted to Prof Mahmudabad, but where was the need of the comments of one of the Judges on the bench that Prof Mahmudabad was doing dog whistling ?
Justice Surya Kant, who is in line of becoming the next CJI, reportedly said :
” Everyone has the right to free speech and expression. But is this the time to talk about all of this? The country is already going through all this… monsters came and attacked our people… we have to be united. Why (do this) to get cheap popularity on these occasions? “
He also reportedly said :
” “Very unfortunate for a society with free speech when choice of words is deliberately made to insult, humiliate and cause discomfort to the other side. He should not have lack of dictionary words to use. He can use language which does not hurt sentiments of others, use neutral language,”
Now where was the occasion for this fustian outburst ? Judges, particularly in superior courts, should maintain great restraint, speak little in court, and not give sermons and lectures , following Sir Francis Bacon ‘s maxim. They should realise that even the oral observations in Court, though technically not binding, can heavily influence the courts below, and hence they should avoid pontification and uttering homilies.
Justice Gavai, and other judges in India, should talk less in court
https://justicekatju.com/a-much-talking-judge-is-like-an-ill-tuned-cymbal-94f171a93ceb
