Reacting to Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana's remarks on media running ‘kangaroo courts’, Union law minister Kiren Rijiju said that India has the ‘most independent judiciary’ in the world.
“Indian judges and judiciary are completely protected. I can say clearly that no judge or judiciary is as independent anywhere in the world as it is in India,” Rijiju said on Saturday, hours after the CJI's statement.
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The law minister described the chief justice's comment as the latter's ‘observation’. The BJP leader said, “The comments made on the media trial by the electronic and print media are the CJI's observations 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, I don't want to comment on what he said right now”.
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{{/usCountry}}Also Read | 'We spend sleepless nights rethinking verdicts': 10 things CJI NV Ramana said
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, CJI Ramana made his remarks in Ranchi, as he delivered the inaugural Justice Satya Brata Sinha lecture. “Media trials affect the fair functioning and independence of the judiciary, and, therefore, cannot be a deciding factor in guiding cases. Of late, we see the media running kangaroo courts on issues that even experienced judges find difficult to decide,” the 64-year-old jurist said, adding that ‘biased views’ being propagated by the media were affecting the people, weakening democracy, and harming the system.
Ramana, who will retire on August 26, singled out electronic media for criticism. “While print certainly has a certain degree of accountability, electronic has virtually zero accountability as what is shows vanishes into thin air. Also, at times, there are concerted campaigns in media, particularly social media, against judges,” he explained.
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In recent days, the country's apex court has invited a lot of media and public scrutiny, particularly over a 2-judge bench's observations against former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, whose comments on Prophet Mohammed triggered a huge controversy, and led to her suspension from the party.
(With ANI inputs)