Judges should not give interviews to news channels about matters before them, the Supreme Court said on Monday, questioning the conduct of a Calcutta High Court judge who gave a television interview while talking about politically sensitive cases in West Bengal being decided by his bench.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud broke down in a video interview with Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who issued at least 10 orders directing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe recruitment irregularities by the West Bengal School Service Commission. .
“Judges have no business interviewing matters that are pending. And if they do, they can’t try the case…They have no business being involved in the proceedings. We are absolutely clear on that,” said the bench, also comprising Justice PS Narasimha, and asked the Calcutta High Court Registrar General for a report by April 28.
The court added that it may ask the Chief Judges to reassign the case to a new bench if the interview and transcript are found to be true. “We will not touch the investigation or issue any order to stop the agency from investigating the matter. But when the judge comments on the petitioner in a televised debate, he cannot hear the case,” it said. “The Chief Justice then has to create a new bench.
Judges not bound to give interviews to Media for pending cases
In its order, the court asked the registrar to verify with Justice Gangopadhyay whether he had given an interview to Bengali television news channel ABP Ananda and further clarify his statements recorded on video.
“We want to know whether the learned judge attended the interview. This is something on TV video and cannot be misinterpreted. We are not interfering with anything that was said or observed in the court but with the televised interviews,” the bench said, fixing Friday for further hearing.
In an interview with ABP Ananda aired last September, Justice Gangopdhyay justified his orders based on the CBI probe by saying that “rampant corruption” had emerged in the teacher recruitment process.
A top court judges also said that Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee could face three months in jail on charges that a section of the judiciary was hand in glove with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was “fearless” and even if the Supreme Court censured him and he was removed from the judiciary, he would stand by what he did because “corruption has destroyed India”, the judge added, perhaps aware that his behavior would be condemned. High Court.
Senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Gopal Sankaranarayanan complained that a judge cannot give an interview regarding a case pending before him and then issue an order against a political figure whom he also criticized in the interview. Calling Justice Gangopadhyay’s action “unprecedented”, Singhvi applied for contempt.
First, the court observed that it may not be right for the apex court to take cognizance of certain statements made by a judge during the proceedings before his court, but after Singhvi brought to the notice of the CJI the televised interview and the transcript, the court was willing to follow the matter.
“The question is, should a judge who made such a statement about a political figure be allowed to participate in the proceedings? There has to be some process,” the bench said.
The court was hearing Banerjee’s petition challenging Justice Gangopadhyay’s order asking the CBI and ED to question him in connection with the West Bengal Education Department bribery scam. Last week, the bench stayed the apex court’s order against the TMC MP till April 24. The preliminary injunction will continue until the next day of the meeting.
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