Judges should refrain from using social media: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday said that judges should refrain from using social media and expressing any opinion on judgments, emphasising there is no place for flamboyance among judges.

Hearing a suo moto case against termination of lady judicial officers by the Madhya Pradesh High Court, a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh expressed discontent over a judge’s post on Facebook.

"They should not go to Facebook, the judicial officers should not comment on judgments because tomorrow if the judgment is cited, the judge has already expressed one way or the other,” the bench said in oral remarks.

The bench was informed that a lady judicial officer had posted something on Facebook, which is part of the material on which she was terminated from service.

Senior advocate and amicus curiae, Gaurav Agarwal, read the various complaints against the officer. Agarwal submitted that the officer had also made a post on Facebook and the file relating to this complaint was kept in abeyance by the Chief Justice of the High Court.

The bench pointed out that the social media is an open platform and it is as good as speaking in public.

A counsel, representing one of the lady judicial officers, agreed with the observation and said that no judicial officer or judge should go to Facebook to post anything related to judicial work. However, the counsel added that the post, which is being referred, does not cross the line of judicial impropriety.

On this, the bench said, "If you want freedom, you cannot be... and say, we value our freedom and we cannot be at a restraint. But there are others who don't mind”.

The bench said that there are some who are passionate about adjudication and granting justice, and they do not mind having restraint.

"That is why, suitability is one aspect which is considered in the interviews for judicial officers. There is no place for flamboyance amongst judges," the bench said.