Kashish Jain
Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad expressed the government’s concern over the social media campaigns that are being conducted against individual judges for their judicial opinions and judgments. He criticized the so-called ‘some people’ who file PILs in the courts, then-campaign on social media for a particular judgment. They then go out of their way to troll their expectations. He has given the phenomena the term ‘campaign justice’.
According to Mr. Prasad, the Judiciary should have the liberty to deliver judgments according to the law. Chief Justice of India, Sharad A. Bobda said judges had become quite used to the PIL route being taken and abused for frivolous petitions. He stated, “The administration of justice is often tried to be made difficult by some vested interests. But that is something we as judges have got used to,”
These opinions came to light during the inaugural function of the new building of the Bombay High Court. The Union Law Minister stated,
“Some people file PILs, then they start a campaign on social media ‘that only this type of judgment is possible in this case. And, if the judgment does not come in accord with what they perceive to be their right, then they start not only criticizing the judges but also trolling judges…You can always criticize a judgment, that’s your right, but if you start campaigning against a judge on social media, it is not fair,”
The Law Minister believed that the smooth transition from physical to virtual mode during the pandemic was a remarkable achievement. Chief Justice Bobde believes that in the future due to e-courts courtroom-burden would surely
shrink and the requirement of large storage spaces in the courts.
He also stated, “Though building more courtrooms is necessary and important, there was very little emphasis on modernizing the existing courtrooms. Though the pandemic has posed a lot of problems to access to justice, it has paved the way for modernizing the courtroom,”
During the event, the CJI drew attention to the fact that Goa is the only State that implements the Uniform Civil Code as envisaged by the framers of the Indian Constitution. He also stated that intellectuals ought to study the Goan model of the Code.