Former Supreme Court judge Justice Abhay Oka has defended Justice Ujjal Bhuyan over his recent remarks that mass disenfranchisement of voters cannot be condoned by any court, saying the sitting judge did not commit any judicial impropriety.
Speaking during an interaction with former Judge Advocate General Nilendra Kumar, founder-director of Lex Consilium Foundation, Justice Oka said he had carefully read Bhuyan’s speech and found no reference to the merits of any pending case or any Supreme Court order concerning the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Oka said judges must exercise restraint and should not comment publicly on the merits of matters pending before their own bench or a coordinate bench. However, he said this principle did not apply to Bhuyan’s remarks.
Judges' role in public discourse
According to Oka, judges are also citizens and cannot remain indifferent to important national issues. While they should refrain from speaking to the media or publicly advocating their views on specific issues, they can participate in academic discussions as students of law.
“I don't think he has crossed limits,” Oka said, adding that Bhuyan was highlighting the importance of adult franchise and its role in a democracy to law students.
Academic discussions and judicial restraint
Oka further said a judge could even discuss whether an earlier Supreme Court judgment required reconsideration in an academic setting, without necessarily adopting the same view while deciding cases from the judicial side.
