SC cautions courts against misogynistic comments, says no part of India can be called Pakistan
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».
The top court on September 20 took suo motu cognisance of the judge's comments against a woman lawyer during court proceedings in a case and his reference to a Muslim-majority area in Bengaluru as «Pakistan» in another.
«Casual observations may well reflect a certain degree of individual bias particularly when they are likely to be perceived as being directed to a particular gender or community,» the bench, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, Surya Kant and Hrishikesh Roy, said on Wednesday.
«Courts, therefore, have to be careful not to make comments in the course of judicial proceedings which may be construed as being misogynistic or for that matter prejudicial to any
