NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday took suo motu cognisance (SMC) against the Karnataka High Court Judge Justice V Srishananda for his controversial "Pakistan" and "undergarment" comments, and sought a detailed report from the state High Court's Registrar General in the issue within two weeks.
Taking strong exception of the remarks made by Justice Srishananda during one of its judicial proceedings, the five-judge bench of the top court, led by CJI (Chief Justice of India) D Y Chandrachud, and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, Surya Kant and Hrishikesh Roy, took up the suo motu in this case.
The apex court said that its attention has been drawn through social media and posts to certain comments made by Judge Justice Srishananda during the conduct of judicial proceedings.
Upon suggesting a need for some guidelines for the judge's remark while conducting court proceedings, the SC sought the report from the Karnataka High Court's Registrar General within two weeks and postponed the matter for further hearing on Wednesday.
The top court also asked the Attorney General (AG) R Venkatramani and Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta to assist the court in the case. "We ask the registrar general of the High Court to submit a report after seeking administrative directions from the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court. This exercise may be carried out in two weeks," it said.
The Supreme Court took a suo muto in the matter, as two videos of Justice Srishananda had gone viral on social media. In one video, he is making objectionable comments about a Muslim dominated locality in West Bengaluru as 'Pakistan'. In another video, the judge is seen reprimanding a woman lawyer for answering a question put to the counsel for the opposite party.
Senior advocate Indira Jaising took to 'X' to urge the CJI to take suo motu judicial note of the comments.