The Supreme Court on Wednesday expunged the remarks made by Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Justice Rajbir Sehrawat in an order criticising the top court for staying the proceedings in a contempt of court matter (In Re: Order of Punjab and Haryana High Court Dated 17.07.2024 and Ancillary Issues).
A five-judge Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant and Hrishikesh Roy said the observations made by Justice Sehrawat were a matter of great concern and ought to be eschewed.
Compliance with Supreme Court orders is not a matter of choice but a matter of binding legal system, the apex court underscored.
"We are of the view that the gratuitous observations by the single judge was absolutely unnecessary and unwarranted. Compliance with Supreme Court direction is not a matter of choice but a matter of binding legal system which overlooks the process of judicial adjudication in the country," the Court said.
It added that parties may be aggrieved by an order, but judge can never be aggrieved by a higher appellate forum.
"This court was constrained to take suo motu notice of the July 17 order in view of the fact that such orders intend to bring entire judicial machinery to disrepute and it also lowers dignity of the High Court as well and such observations were wholly unnecessary," the Court said.
he Court also said it expects that greater caution is exercised by judges while dealing with Supreme Court's orders and the orders passed by division benches.
"Whether individual judges are in agreement with merits of order passed by superior court is beside the point," it added.
The Court further expressed a hope that it would not have to interfere in a similar matter in the future in relation to the same judge or any other judge of the country.
The top court on Tuesday had initiated a suo motu case in relation to Justice Sehrawat's recent order in which he had commented on the consequences of stay orders by the top court and sounded "a note of caution even for the Hon'ble Supreme Court to be more specific in causing legal consequences through its order."
At the outset of the hearing, CJI Chandrachud today said the top court was pained by the observations made by Justice Sehrawat.
"We are pained by the observations made by the single judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court while dealing with a contempt case," Justice Chandrachud said.
The Court also referred to a viral video of a hearing showing Justice Sehrawat calling a Division Bench's order to be "rubbish order".
With regard to the video, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta also submitted that the judge has to gone to extent of declaring Supreme Court's order to be non est.
Mehta said it was not a case of judicial indiscipline alone but a case of an aggravated contempt.
"He (judge) also said in video that judges should be sent for judicial training and sometimes expressions speak much more.. so the court must decide whether suo motu should look into only the observations or the video also which is judicial indiscipline or judicial impropriety and is thus contemptuous also. a common man is watching the video as well," Mehta said.
In the order later, the Court stressed that judges should exercise greater restraint during the course of proceedings in the age of live streaming.
During the hearing today, CJI Chandrachud also referred to the tendency among High Court judges to comment on Supreme Court's orders.
"We are informed that High Court division bench headed by CJ has stayed the single judge order. we are not on a particular judge. but this tendency to make gratuitous remark on supreme court ... this discipline of hierarchy has to be maintained and discipline of system has to be maintained," CJI Chandrachud said.
The Court then said the remarks of the judge would be expunged. However, it also maintained that top court would not make any such remark that affects the majesty of the High Courts.
"Thus we will expunge the remarks of the judge and express that observations in the order is scandalous ... SC must also use its powers with great caution and remedy by us should not cause greater judicial harm," CJI Chandrachud said,
During the hearing, Attorney General for India R Venkataramani also submitted that Justice Sehrawat's transgression was unwarranted and that the judge had brought down the High Court's integrity as an institution.
"I have read the proceedings and it deserves intervention by the supreme court and there are dimensions on which the HC judge should not have gone into and there is a transgression which was unwarranted," the AG said.
During the hearing, the judges on the bench also expressed their views on the relationship between the top court and high courts.
On Justice Sehrawat's comment that stay orders by top court are passed due to the presumption that Supreme Court is 'supreme' than the High Court, Justice Khanna said, "Only issue is when there is a stay order by the [top] court ... not that HC is subordinate but we follow an appellate system.. last part of order [by Justice Sehrawat] follows it... but then makes unwarranted observations."
Justice Roy on this aspect said that courts are not supreme but the Constitution is.
"See Supreme Court is also not supreme, High Court is also not supreme and Munsiff Court is also not supreme. It is the constitution and we are all under it. The judge is after all in charge of how he conducts proceedings in his court."
Justice Sehrawat in the order passed on July 17 had remarked that the Supreme Court has no role concerning the contempt of court proceedings pertaining to an order passed by the High Court.
Probably more caution on the part of the Supreme Court would have been more appropriate, the single-judge had said.
Pertinently, days after the order was passed, in a single modification to roster, the High Court Registrar General on the orders of Chief Justice in the notice published on August 5 declared that the contempt matters at the High Court would now be heard by Justice Harkesh Manuja.
