In response to Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana's statements about the media operating 'kangaroo courts,' Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju stated that India has the world's 'most independent judiciary,' news agency ANI reported.
The chief justice's remark was described as an "observation" by the law minister. “The comments made on the media trial by the CJI Ramana by electronic and social media are his observation as per the situation that exists in India and across the world…if anybody feels that way we can discuss this in the public domain and I don’t want to comment on what he said right now,” Rijiju was quoted by ANI in its report.
After the CJI's remark on media trials, Union Law Minister said, “Indian judges and judiciary are completely protected and I can say clearly that no judge or judiciary is as independent anywhere in the world as it is in India."
Earlier, CJI Ramana stated, "New media platforms have immense amplification potential but appear to be incapable of differentiating between the right and the wrong, the good and the evil, and the genuine and the phoney."
Chief Justice Ramana further warned that the judges' failure to respond swiftly should not be misinterpreted as weakness or inability.
“Biased views being propagated by media are affecting the people, weakening democracy, and harming the system. In this process, justice delivery gets adversely affected,” the CJI added.
“By overstepping and breaching your responsibility, you are taking our democracy two steps backwards. Print media still has a certain degree of accountability. Whereas, electronic media has zero accountability as what it shows vanishes into thin air. Still, worse is social media,” he said.
The CJI also stated that there is an increase in physical attacks on judges these days.
The Chief Justice further emphasised that accepting the misleading narrative around the ostensibly simple life of a judge becomes difficult.
“There exists a misconception in the minds of the people that judges stay in ultimate comfort, work only from 10 am to 4 pm and enjoy their holidays. Such a narrative is untrue. When false narratives are created about the supposed easy life led by judges, it is difficult to swallow,” Justice Ramana said.
(With Inputs From ANI)