I am not someone who will take browbeating: CJI Surya Kant

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant has expressed concern that judges are increasingly subjected to adverse public remarks because of the observations they make during case hearings.

Justice Kant, who had himself recently come under attack for his oral remarks in a case alleging disappearance of five Rohingya immigrants in India, said that he would not be intimidated by such reactions.

CJI Kant made these comments on Thursday during the hearing of a plea filed by former Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna.

Justice Kant highlighted that oral remarks made by judges often address hypothetical situations.

"There are hypothetical situations in court. We make observations. But I am not someone who will take browbeating. Not so easy with me. As soon as the judge makes an observation there are allegations made against him," CJI Kant said.

A bench of CJI Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi then dismissed Revanna's plea for the transfer of two rape trials pending against him to a different judge in Bengaluru.

Notably, one of the arguments advanced by Revanna was that the trial judge hearing the matter had made adverse comments against him and his counsel. Revanna's lawyers also referred to certain critical observations made by the Karnataka High Court against him.

However, CJI Kant said that judges' observations should not lead to allegations against them.

CJI Kant and Justice Bagchi also observed that judicial officers cannot be held to ransom and that top court must safeguard the morale of district judiciary. Further, CJI Kant said that judges take corrective steps when they make mistakes.

"Sometimes we make errors but we rectify it. I just did it. We deal with such large volume of cases and evidence," he said.

Recently, CJI Kant faced criticism for telling a litigant that they seemed to want a "red carpet" for immigrants in India, and for observing that habeas corpus petitions seeking release of detained immigrants were very fanciful.

The petitioner Rita Manchanda, a writer and activist, had expressed concern over the alleged disappearance of five Rohingya immigrants.

Subsequently, former judges, including Justices AP Shah, K Chandru and Anjana Om Prakash, legal commentators and activists criticized CJI Kant's views in an open letter. They said that they were deeply concerned by the "unconscionable remarks" made about Rohingya refugees during the December 2 hearing.

In particular, they flagged statements reported to have made by CJI Kant questioning the legal status of the Rohingya as refugees, "equating them with intruders illegally entering India."

In the letter addressed to the CJI, they also underscored that the Chief Justice of the top court is the custodian and final arbiter of the rights of the poor and the marginalised.

"Your words carry weight not simply in the courtroom but in the conscience of the nation and have a cascading effect on the High Courts, the lower judiciary and other government authorities. A remark that equates vulnerable persons (who in the case of the Rohingya include thousands of women and children) seeking shelter with “intruders” who “dig tunnels”, further dehumanises those fleeing genocidal persecution and weakens the moral authority of the judiciary," they said in the letter dated December 5.

Subsequently, 44 retired High Court and Supreme Court judges on December 9 circulated a statement condemning what they termed a "motivated campaign" against CJI Kant.

The December 5-letter was also referred to in the statement.

"Judicial proceedings can and should be subject to fair, reasoned criticism. What we are witnessing, however, is not principled disagreement but an attempt to delegitimize the Judiciary by mischaracterizing a routine courtroom proceedings as an act of prejudice. The Chief Justice is being attacked for asking the most basic legal question: who, in law, has granted the status that is being claimed before the Court? No adjudication on rights or entitlements can proceed unless this threshold is first address," their statement read.