'Lawyers as officers of court must be careful': Outgoing CJI BR Gavai laments at 'scurrilous allegations' made against judges

CJI BR Gavai

The outgoing Chief Justice BR Gavai on Monday expressed his displeasure at growing incidents of allegations made against the judges in the event when favourable orders are not passed to parties.

The CJI made these remarks while hearing a contempt of court argument in which 'scurrilous allegations' were made against Telangana High Court judge Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya.

The Supreme Court had reprimanded one N Peddi Raju for making such comments against the Telangana High Court judge in the case.

The court was told that by senior advocate Sanjay Hegde said the he has apologised and that the Telangana judge had accepted his apology, however, the CJI who will demit office on Novermber 23, was not content.

The case pertains to the High Court's order quashing a criminal case in matter under the SC/ST Act after which the petitioner approached the Supreme Court with a transfer petution, accusing the Telangana HC judge of bias and impropriety. In the case, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy received relief from the High Court.

"This court, as far back as 1954, had observed… that lawyers, as officers of the court, owe a duty to the court. The majesty of law does not lie in punishment but forgiving when an apology is made. And since the learned judge of the High Court, against whom allegations were made, has accepted the apology, we will not proceed any further," the CJI said.

The CJI went on to say, "However, we will add that lawyers as officers of court must be careful before signing pleadings which make allegations against judges of any court."

"Such practices need to be strongly deprecated," CJI Gavai said.

The Supreme Court had issued contempt notices to petitioner Raju and his lawyers in July this year for making 'scurrilous allegations' against the Telangana High Court judge in their petition.

The SC issued show cause notices and refused to allow withdrawal of the petition, saying, “We cannot permit any litigant to make such allegations against a judge."