Criticism of judges bothersome, could affect performance of courts: Bobde

NEW DELHI: Taking a grim view of unrestrained criticism of judges on social media for some of their judicial actions, Chief Justice of India designate Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde says it bothers him when he sees judges feeling “harassed” and finds the attack difficult to ignore.

Justice Bobde, who will assume charge as the 47th Chief Justice of India on November 18, also said the unrestricted criticism was not only scandalising but also tearing apart judges’ reputation. Criticism of judges instead of their judgments including on social media is actually an offence of ‘defamation’, Bobde said during a wide-ranging interview with news agency PTI.

Asked whether criticism of judges bothers him, Justice Bobde said, “To an extent. Yes. It bothers me. That it might affect the performance of courts and I see judges who feel harassed. To that extent it bothers me. Nobody likes it. Everybody is not thickskinned enough to ignore. Judges are also normal human beings.” He, however, said the apex court could not do anything to address the uncontrolled criticism.

“What can we do. We cannot do anything to this kind of media as of now. We don’t know what steps to take. They are not only scandalising but tearing apart people’s reputation and judges’ reputation,” he said and sarcastically added, “On top of that, there is a grievance that there is no freedom of speech”.

“Criticising the judge and not judgment is defamation,” said Justice Bobde, who will have a tenure of about 18 months.

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