After attracting severe criticism over the unwarranted oral remarks by a Supreme Court bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala, today justice JB Pardiwala advocated for censorship of social media and digital media. He made the comments while speaking at the 2nd Justice H R Khanna Memorial National Symposium hosted by Dr Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow, National Law University Odisha, Cuttack, and CAN Foundation on July 3. He advocated for the regulation of social and digital media in the context of sensitive trials that are pending, and said that Parliament should bring law for the same.
Justice JB Pardiwala said that regulation of social and digital media, especially in the context of sensitive trials which are sub-judice, must be looked at by the parliament, citing incidents of ‘media trials’. He said that Social and digital media leads to legal issues becoming political.
Regulation of social and digital media, especially in the context of sensitive trials which are sub-judice, must be looked at by the parliament: Justice Pardiwala
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) July 3, 2022
Speaking at the conference, Justice Pardiwala said, “Social and digital media is primarily resorted to expressing personalised opinions more against the judges, rather than a constructive critical appraisal of their judgments. This is what is harming the judicial institution and lowering its dignity.”
Pardiwala J: Social and digital media is primarily resorted to expressing personalised opinions more against the judges, rather than a constructive critical appraisal of their judgments. This is what is harming the judicial institution and lowering its dignity.
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) July 3, 2022
“This is where digital and social media needs to be regulated throughout the country to preserve the rule of law under our constitution. Attacks on judges for their judgements lead to a dangerous scenario; where the judges have to think what the media thinks, rather than what the law actually says. This puts the rule of law on the burner,” Pardiwala further said.
Pardiwala J: ..where the judges have to think what the media thinks, rather than what the law actually says. This puts the rule of law on the burner.
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) July 3, 2022
According to Justice Pardiwala, the remedy for judgments lies not with social media but with higher courts in the hierarchy. Legal concerns become political as a result of social and digital media. He cited the Ayodhya judgement as an example of how a controversial civil case became a political issue.
He went on to rant against social media, saying social media is about personal opinions against the judges instead of providing opinions criticizing the judgements. This is what harming the judiciary in the country, justice Pardiwala alleged.
He also said that personal attacks on judges for their judgements lead to a dangerous scenario where the judges have to think about what media thinks instead of what the law really thinks.
It’s worth mentioning that Justice Pardiwala was recently criticized for his comments in a case involving ex-BJP spokeswoman Nupur Sharma. Nupur Sharma had petitioned the Supreme Court for the transfer of all FIRs filed against her in various states to Delhi for further probe. Sharma mentioned in her application that she is constantly being threatened with death.
During the hearing, the bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice JB Pardiwala blamed Nupur Sharma for the gruesome Udaipur murder, claiming that her “loose tongue” set the entire country on fire and that she owed an apology to the entire country.
While Justice Pardiwala demanded the Parliament to enact law to regulate social and digital media, actually the union government has already taken steps in this regard. The IT Rules 2021 are aimed at regulating content on social media and digital media only.
