The Supreme Court on Friday directed Chandigarh-based journalist Ajay Shukla to take down a video containing serious allegations against a senior judge of the Apex Court from his YouTube channel, The Principle (owned by Varprad Media India Private Limited).
The Bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai, Justice Augustine George Masih and Justice Atul S Chandrukar directed the Registry to register a suo motu contempt case against Ajay Shukla and make the YouTube channel a party respondent. It further asked Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to assist the court.
Noting that the video clip made scandalous observations about a senior Apex Court judge of this court, the top court of the country said such allegations, which were likely to bring disrepute to the august institution of the judiciary through wide publication on YouTube, the top court of the country also ordered the YouTube channel to stop the publication of the video.
The YouTube channel recently posted a video on the retirement of Justice Bela M Trivedi.
The video’s caption referred to Justice Trivedi as a “Godi judge,” a term commonly used to describe individuals or institutions perceived to act in alignment with the Central government’s interests.
The Apex Court today said that while the Constitution of India guaranteed freedom of speech and expression, the right was restricted by reasonable restrictions and could not be allowed to make defamatory allegations regarding a judge of the Apex Court or contemptuous in nature, which could brings disrepute to the institute of judiciary.
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