The Supreme Court on Friday (30/04/2021) while considering a Suo Moto petition on Covid-19 management in the country asked High Courts not to make ‘off-the-cuff remarks.’ The court opined that such remarks may be misleading and will be damaging to the people involved in the management of the infectious disease.
The observations came from a bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud and including Justice S Ravindra Bhat.
The observations came from the court when Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta complained about the harsh statements coming from various High Courts while considering cases related to Covid-19. The Solicitor General submitted that the Supreme Court is in the position of Karta in a Hindu Undivided Family and has to take note of 'Strong Observations' made by some High Courts. It was submitted that in some writ petitions and applications High Courts are making serious observations that put Central and State governments in the dock.
It was further submitted by the Solicitor General that:
“The courts' concern is shared by everybody, but in these times of crisis, we must be very circumspect. Even as lawyers, we must be very circumspect”
The concern of the Solicitor General was concurred by Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar, representing the State of Bihar, stating that:
“Some high courts have even gone to the extent of castigating every officer on duty. It is very demoralising. They have gone to the extent of saying that they are not doing their job and are not capable of performing as government officers”
After hearing the submissions Justice Chandrachud observed that Judges often ask difficult questions to the lawyers just to have open discussions and to test hypotheses and arguments put up by the opposing party. The Justice observed that such enquires are not final judgements or expression of the opinion of the court.
The Judge observed that the court is not with malice to any lawyer arguing before it and all lawyers will be questioned and critiqued.
But Justice Chandrachud called for the need of restraint by stating that:
"Of course, as judges, we must also confront that this is a new time that we are living in and every word that we say becomes part of the social media or Twitter. All we can say that we expect a degree of respect restraint……. Particularly, in sensitive matters, we tend to exercise some caution and restraint. It is not because we are fearful of our remarks! Of course, we are independent! It is only because of the serious ramifications which off-the-cuff remarks about private citizens may have"
The court observed that even when criticising High Court judgements, the Supreme Court judges show restraint so as not to make inflammatory statements and that the Supreme court expects High Court while exercising its freedom does not make off-the-cuff statements.
The Solicitor General expressed his satisfaction with the court’s observations by saying that:
“That will be enough, Your Lordships...As they say, a diplomat is a person who helps people who have differing points of view find common ground...that is the need of the hour”
Justice Bhat observed that:
“High Court judges are stressed about local conditions. So, at times, they may get emotional and make strong remarks. But we must not be so fragile as to get offended by them”
On Thursday, the Delhi and Madras High Courts had separately questioned the preparedness of the government in meeting the second wave of Covid-19 in the country. The Madras High Court asked whether the governments were unaware of a possible second wave of the infections. Delhi High Court questioned the flaws in the Centre’s oxygen allocation decisions.
