CHENNAI : Objecting to the action of the XIII Metropolitan Magistrate in permitting N Ram of The Hindu to make his submissions when Nakkeeran Gopal was brought for judicial remand, the Madras High Court has called for a report from the magistrate.When a petition from the State questioning the action of the Magistrate in refusing to remand Gopal in judicial custody on October 9 last came up for hearing on Tuesday, Justice Anand Venkatesh observed that he was not happy with the manner in which the proceedings were conducted by the court below. The lower court had virtually converted it into a public platform.
This attitude of magistrates playing to the gallery should be stopped. They shall be beyond all this. “This court does not understand as to how the court below allowed Ram to make his submissions in the case. Ram is a rank outsider insofar as this case is concerned. He did not have any locus-standi to make any representation before the court.
Court proceedings cannot be made a platform for expressing public opinion. Its proceedings have to be confined to the facts of the case and the law involved therein, the judge said and added that the other disturbing factor was that the Magistrate had recorded the submissions of Ram in his order.The matter relates to the arrest of Gopal in connection with the publication of reports against the Governor’s office and his production before the Magistrate for remand.