Nothing wrong in House condemning Katju: SC

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday did not find any fault with the Parliament passing a resolution condemning Justice Markandeya Katju’s blog against Mahatma Gandhi and Subhas Chandra Bose and advised its former judge to accept criticism of his writings.

A bench headed by Justice TS Thakur minced no words in expressing the court’s reluctance to hear Justice Katju’s petition asking the top court to quash the resolution, saying the Parliament’s action had not violated his free speech nor caused him any injury to his reputation.

“What about your article? Doesn’t it amount to defamation? If you are entitled to criticise someone then you must be open enough to accept criticism against you too,” the bench told the retired SC judge’s counsel Gopal Subramanium.

Though the court prima facie held the resolution simply amounted to a “disagreement,” it decided to hear senior advocate Fali Nariman when Subramanium persisted with his arguments.

The senior counsel said Justice Katju was entitled to his views on the two national leaders and was backed by many historians. In one of his blogs Justice Katju had called “Gandhi a British agent, and Subhas Chandra Bose a Japanese agent.”

At the outset, the bench, also comprising Justices V Gopala Gowda and R Banumathi, asked as to how did the resolution take away Justice Katju’s fundamental right to free speech.