Judgments can be criticised, not judges and judiciary: Madras HC

Justice N Kirubakaran, while passing orders on an issue related to depositing the Government’s share under Contributory Pension Scheme on Friday, said “It is made clear that if any comments or observations are made against an order, there should not be any action against the individual concerned. Only when defamatory, unwanted observations/comments and allegations are made against the judges in personal and judiciary in general, action needs to be taken.” “Merely because judiciary is affected, the police need not show any special interest. Like any other case, the cases connected with this issue must be investigated and dealt with by the police,” the judge added.

Justice Kirubakaran’s order came about on the submission made by the Additional Advocate General (AAG) K Venkatramani that certain persons who were responsible for releasing defamatory, obscene and derogatory messages against the judiciary and the judges have been identified and cases have been filed, However, based on the time sought by the AAG to file the action-taken report, the matter has been posted for further hearing to October 4.

Justice Kirubakaran was trolled and he figured in memes after he asked government school teachers whether they were not ashamed of the fact that a mere five students from Government schools made it to the MBBS course. He made the observation while dealing with an issue involving them.