Today, On 10th November, Chief Justice BR Gavai, during a contempt hearing in the N. Peddi Raju case, condemned the rising trend of scandalous allegations against judges over unfavourable rulings, stressing that such scurrilous attacks on the judiciary must be strongly deprecated.
New Delhi: Chief Justice BR Gavai expressed concern on Monday about the increasing trend of making scandalous allegations against judges when they issue rulings that are not favorable to one party or the other.
During a contempt of court hearing in the N Peddi Raju case, where Raju had made derogatory remarks about Telangana High Court Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya, the Chief Justice, who will retire on November 23, addressed the issue.
The Supreme Court ultimately closed the case after senior advocate Sanjay Hegde stated that Raju had apologized, which the Telangana judge accepted.
However, the Chief Justice made it clear he was dissatisfied with the situation.
He remarked,
“Such practices need to be strongly deprecated,”
Commenting on such tendencies, the top court today remarked,
“In the recent past, we have noticed a growing trend of making scurrilous and scandalous allegations against a judge when they don’t pass favourable orders. Such a practice needs to be strongly deprecated.”
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,”
He also 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 Raju and his legal representatives for their “scurrilous allegations” against the Telangana High Court judge in their petition.
While issuing show cause notices, the court refused to allow the withdrawal of the petition, asserting,
“We cannot permit any litigant to make such allegations against a judge….”
The case in question involved Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy receiving relief from the High Court concerning a matter under the SC/ST Act, specifically the judge’s decision to quash a criminal case.
The petitioner later approached the Supreme Court with a transfer plea, alleging bias and impropriety on the part of the Telangana judge.
N. Peddi Raju, along with advocates Ritesh Patil and Nitin Meshram, previously claimed there was a “likelihood of derailment of justice” in a case involving Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, who received relief from the High Court concerning a matter under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
In a petition submitted to the Supreme Court, Peddi Raju requested that the case be transferred to a court other than the Telangana High Court, citing significant concerns regarding the impartiality of the judge who heard the case.
The petition also stated that Raju’s lawyer was allotted only five minutes to present arguments.
The Supreme Court condemned these allegations and issued a notice for contempt to Raju and his two lawyers. During a hearing on August 11, the Court instructed Raju and his legal team to apologize before Justice Bhattacharya, leaving it to her discretion whether to accept the apology.
Earlier, On August 22, Justice Bhattacharya accepted their apologies but also noted her intention to rebut the claims made in their transfer petition.
Today, the Supreme Court decided to conclude the contempt proceedings entirely, as Justice Bhattacharya chose to accept the apologies offered by Raju and his attorneys.
Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde represented Raju in this matter.
Case Title: In Re N Peddi Raju and ors