New Delhi: When asked about his views on the criticism of judges on social media, CJI-designate SA Bobde, who will take over from Justice Ranjan Gogoi in November, said there is nothing wrong about raising questions about judgments or the rationale of the orders.
“But criticism of judges, instead of that of judgments, amounts to defamation… that should not be done,” he said. ‘‘In fact, most of the judges, who are not thick-skinned, get perturbed by criticism on social media,” he added.
He also said he is not in favour of disclosing the deliberations of the Supreme Court's Collegium on rejection of names for higher judiciary, saying it is not a question of secrecy but a matter of right to privacy.
This was necessary as "people's reputation is at stake" and it cannot be sacrificed just to satiate a citizen’s fervent desire to know. The statement by Justice Bobde, who was part of a nine-judge Constitution bench which declared right to privacy as a fundamental right, assumes significance in the wake of a growing clamour for more transparency in the functioning of the apex court's Collegium.For the first time in the history of judiciary, the then CJI Dipak Misra had in 2017 taken a decision to make public the recommendations of the Collegium on the apex court's website.
Elsewhere, while talking to NDTV, Bobde said Ayodhya case is "one of the most important in the world". The 63-year-old is part of the five-judge bench that heard the title suit in the decades-old politically sensitive temple-mosque dispute.
Delineating his priorities, Justice Bobde said, "The highest priority has to be justice and at no cost it can be sacrificed for anything else because that is the reason for existence of courts and if that is sacrificed, the rest does not matter; the only goal is justice."
"In that process you have to ensure that justice is delivered in reasonable time. We cannot have instant justice. Instant justice has very bad connotation. So, justice cannot be unduly delayed and it cannot be unduly hurried. It must come in due time," he said.
