Criminal complaint filed against 2 TV journalists for remarks on judge

A lawyer filed on Saturday a criminal complaint in the metropolitan court here against two television anchors for allegedly making critical remarks against a former Rajasthan high court judge. The court will hear the complaint against TV anchors Ravish Kumar and Sanket Upadhyay on June 6.

Hearing a petition related to cow deaths at the Hingonia cow shelter in Jaipur on Wednesday, judge Mahesh Chand Sharma asked the central and state governments to declare cow as the national animal and ensure life imprisonment to those who kill the animal considered holy by Hindus.

Sharma also said peacocks remain celibate lifelong and for procreation, peahens drink tears of peacocks, which makes them pregnant. The judge retired the same day.

While discussing the remarks on his show on Wednesday, NDTV’s Ravish Kumar said judges should be taken to zoos during their training and told how each animal procreates.

In his complaint, Jaipur-based lawyer CC Ratnu said Kumar ridiculed the judges and judiciary.

“I did not comment on the appointment of judges, their dignity or their intentions, and neither did I intend to. I respect the judiciary.

“If a person makes a statement in public space, then everybody has a right to criticise it,” Kumar told HT.

“It is not appropriate to see remarks made on retired judge’s statement to the media as contempt of court.

“A lot of people in media and on social media are engaging in constructive criticism of the judge’s statements that were given in public,” he said.

Sanket Upadhyay, an anchor with CNN-News18, referred to Sharma as ‘cow judge’ and ‘peacock judge’ in his show.

Upadhyay also posed a question about checking the quality of judges.

The complainant said he was hurt by the reference to a high court judge as ‘cow judge’ and ‘peacock judge’.

Although the judge’s remarks about peacocks can be debated, one cannot question the ability of judges or their appointment, he said. High court judges, he said, are appointed by the President after consultations with the state’s governor and the chief justice of India.