After CJI, Kiren Rijiju Speaks Against Criticism Of Judges On Social Media, Says People Cannot Force Judiciary To Play Role Of Opposition

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the wisdom of judges is beyond public scrutiny and that mischievous efforts were being made by some groups in attempting to malign the image of the Indian Judiciary and the Country.

“Judiciary was the final arbitrator of any dispute. If there are questions or confusion regarding anything, let Judiciary decide and Judiciary’s decision should be respected. This is the mandate. But some people want to play some kind of role and they want to force judiciary to play the role of opposition parties... Indian Judiciary itself resists these forceful attempts to make Indian judiciary play the role of an opposition party. It can never happen.” said the Minister while inaugurating the Central Government Law Officers' Conference at Bhubaneshwar.

He further added that "Judiciary is Independent and the independence of judiciary cannot be questioned by anybody. This is something we have to take as a cardinal principle of our approach.”

The Minister also expressed concerns at personal attacks against judges on social media and said that “it is unfortunate that there are abuses in the social media platforms about the judges, calling names, etc. If the government is attacked, if the government is being criticised, it is welcome. In democracy governments must be questioned. But it is not the right thing or not a good sign when the judiciary is subjected to some kind of criticism. The Judiciary must be far away from public criticism.”

He said that “to make India a safe and secure place, we need stringent law...No campaign with ulterior motive could succeed in defaming India."

Earlier, the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud had voiced similar concerns about "trolling" on social media that judges have to face.

"For every little thing that we do, and believe me, as judges we are no exception to this, for everything that you do, you face the threat of being trolled by someone who does not share your point of view," the CJI had said.

However, Chief Justice Chandrachud's remarks were not taken well by Twitter users, who alleged that the CJI is trying to stifle criticism of judges.