Supreme Court Chief Justice Condemns Scandalous Allegations Against Judges in Contempt Case

New Delhi:

Chief Justice BR Gavai expressed deep concern on Monday regarding the increasing practice of making defamatory allegations against judges when their rulings do not favor particular parties.

Chief Justice Gavai, who will complete his term on November 23, was presiding over a contempt of court proceeding in the N Peddi Raju case. The Supreme Court had previously reprimanded Raju for making derogatory comments against Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya of the Telangana High Court.

The court concluded the case after senior advocate Sanjay Hegde informed that the Telangana judge had accepted Raju's apology. However, Chief Justice Gavai clearly expressed his disapproval of such behavior.

"Such practices need to be strongly deprecated," he emphasized.

The Chief Justice-led bench stated, "This court, as far back as 1954, had observed... that lawyers, as officers of the court, owe a duty to the court. The majesty of law does not lie in punishment but forgiving when an apology is made. And since the learned judge of the High Court, against whom allegations were made, has accepted the apology, we will not proceed any further."

The bench further added, "However, we will add that lawyers as officers of court must be careful before signing pleadings which make allegations against judges of any court."

In July, the Supreme Court had issued contempt notices to the litigant Raju and his legal representatives for making 'scurrilous allegations' against the Telangana High Court judge in their petition.

While issuing show cause notices, the top court refused to permit withdrawal of the petition, declaring, "We cannot permit any litigant to make such allegations against a judge...."

The petition concerned a case in which Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy received relief from the High Court in a matter under the SC/ST Act.

Specifically, the case involves the High Court's decision to quash a criminal case. The petitioner subsequently approached the Supreme Court with a transfer plea, alleging bias and impropriety by the Telangana judge.