Karnataka HC judge V Shrishananda 'regrets' calling Muslim-majority Bengaluru area 'Pakistan'

Videos of the judge’s remarks during court proceedings had gone viral forcing the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognizance of his remarks during two separate proceedings.

Bengaluru: A day after the Supreme Court of India took exception to certain remarks he had made during court proceedings, Justice V Shrishananda from the Karnataka high court on Saturday expressed regrets over his comments.

“A few observations made during judicial proceedings were reported out of context in the social media platforms. The observations were unintentional and not to hurt any individual or any section of the society. If such observations hurt any individual or any section of the society or community, I express my sincere regrets,” the judge said.

Videos of the judge’s remarks during court proceedings had gone viral. The Apex Court had taken suo motu cognizance of his remarks during two separate proceedings. In one such clipping, Justice Shrishananda had referred to a Bengaluru locality as ‘Pakistan’ and in another clip he made a gender insensitive comment in front of a woman advocate.

“If she (the woman advocate) was present in the court it would have been clarified that it was not to her but to her client,” Justice Shrishananda said.

Vivek Subbareddy, president of Advocates Association of Bengaluru (AAB), who was present in the court, said that Justice Shrishananda’s judgements were excellent, but he may have to exercise restraint when making observations. “But lordship’s ‘side kathas’ and ‘upakathas’ during the hearing is what is cause of concern when it is live streamed, though the side stories are interesting to listen to,” he said.

Meanwhile, the office-bearers of the AAB submitted that YouTubers have been posting clips of live streaming with wrong and misleading headlines and taglines. They said this is affecting lawyers as well. “The Registrar General and Registrar Judicial will have to control such YouTubers,” they said.