The Delhi High Court on Monday agreed to hear a plea whether there should be prohibition against any write-up that does not confine criticism to a verdict but personally attacks a judge and his judicial acumen. Admitting a petition that highlighted a lawyers defamatory article on his website relating to the verdict in the 1999 Shivani Bhatnagar murder case,a division bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw decided to hear the arguments on the issue if there could be a restraint in the form of a judicial order against such practice. The petition filed by a lawyer had brought to the notice of the court an article written by advocate Ashok Arora,a former Secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association,on the verdict delivered by a division bench of the court on October 12. The verdict had acquitted former Haryana IGP R K Sharma and two others serving a life term in the killing of The Indian Express journalist Shivani Bhatnagar,clearing them of all charges. The judgment,which overturned a trial court verdict,was inconclusive on why and at whose instance Shivani was killed. However,it said,it could not convict the three accused on the basis of the insufficient and unreliable evidence put before it by the prosecution,giving the three benefit of doubt. Only Pradeep Sharmas life sentence was upheld,with the High Court saying there was adequate evidence to prove his guilt. Arora,in his article dated October 17,had commented on the merits of the judgement,prompting advocate Manish Kaushik to seek initiation of criminal contempt proceeding against him. The petition sought immediate order to block the content on the website and also stop the circulation of the impugned article. During the hearing,Additional Solicitor General A S Chandhiok,appearing for the Central government,and Delhi governments standing counsel Najmi Waziri requested the bench to widen the ambit of the petition and ensure by way of a judicial order that nobody through a write-up could attack on the judges with respect to any verdict. Any article cannot state that judges did not have the knowledge of law. There could not be any personal attack. We would request the lordship to look into this, Chandhiok said. At this,Justice Sikri accepted his request and agreed to hear the legal arguments on the issue. Also accepting that the matter involved immediate intervention,the court ordered the DCP,Cyber Crime Cell,to immediately take steps to remove the article and stop its circulation henceforth. It also issued notices to Arora and to the Central and state governments,Delhi High Court,Bar Council of India and Bar Council of Delhi for November 9.
