Careers at stake: Supreme Court frowns upon YouTuber's reckless allegations against judges

The Supreme Court on Monday flagged concerns over how reckless allegations of corruption could ruin the careers of judicial officers.

A Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu made the observation while considering a plea by YouTuber Gulshan Pahuja.

Pahuja had recently been sentenced to six months in jail by the Delhi High Court for criminal contempt of court for making scandalous remarks against the judiciary in his YouTube videos.

Pahuja today told the Court that his only aim is to fight judicial corruption and that he has not targeted any judge personally.

The Court replied that while it has sympathy for him, allegations of judicial corruption should not be made recklessly without any proof. The Bench explained that baseless corruption allegations can have far reaching consequences, particularly in the age of social media.

"Judicial officers, you bring (against) them charge of corruption without any supporting material. You tarnish image of judicial officers, and you know how social media reacts. The entire career of the judicial officer is at stake. Judicial officers have to live with this problem," the Bench said.

In May this year, the Delhi High Court sentenced Pahuja to six months of imprisonment and a ₹2,000 fine for committing criminal contempt of court by making scandalous comments about the judiciary in his videos and in arguments before the Court.

The High Court noted that he had drew comparisons between the judiciary and a dictatorship by stating in his arguments that he expects no justice from the Indian judicial system and alleging that ‘adaalaton ki manmarzi badhti jaa rahi hai aur main koi nyay ki umeed nahi kar raha’ (translation: the arbitrary actions of the courts are increasing and I am not expecting any justice) and ‘manmarzi ka dusra arth taanashahi hota hai’ (translation: the synonym for arbitrariness is dictatorship).

Pahuja later filed a plea seeking an extension of time to surrender to serve out the six-month jail sentence. After the Delhi High Court rejected his request, he moved the Supreme Court seeking some more time to surrender.

However, while this plea was pending, Pahuja surrendered. In view of this development, the Supreme Court today said that his petition appeared to be infructuous.

"Now that you have surrendered, our hands are tied," the Bench said.

Pahuja's counsel submitted that the YouTuber's efforts have only been to fight against corruption in the judiciary and that he is not against the judicial institution.

"He is fighting against corruption in judiciary. He is trying his level best so things in judiciary are good. He is not against the judiciary," he submitted.

The Court replied that it is not delving into the merits of the matter today. The Bench also observed that Pahuja has already filed an appeal challenging the High Court's decision to convict him for criminal contempt of Court.

Pahuja's counsel, in turn, told the Court that the appeal is yet to be listed by the registry. The appeal includes Hindi documents, which are yet to be translated. Such defects flagged by the registry have to be cured before it can be listed, the Court was told.

The top court proceeded to grant Pahuja liberty to file an application so that he is exempted from having to translate the Hindi documents to English. Once such an application is filed, the Supreme Court registry has to list Pahuja's appeal for further consideration, the Court directed.

The Court also indicated that it will allow Pahuja's request to argue the case himself.

[Live Coverage]