Tough to deal with offensive posts against judiciary: HC

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Tuesday said it is becoming increasingly difficult to deal with persons putting up defamatory material against the judicial system on social networking sites.

The observation was made by a division bench of Justice V M Kanade and Justice Anuja Prabhudessai while hearing a contempt petition by Anita Hiranandani (47) against her brother-in-law Dwarka Hiranandani (56), his wife Duru and son Sunil in their dispute over a flat at Lokhandwala, Andheri (W). Her petition said the HC had transferred Dwarka's civil suit to the city civil court but the trio has been making scandalous allegations not only against the judges and the judicial system but also the advocates who appeared in the matter. The advocate general on December 2013 granted her permission to invoke the Contempt of the Court Act. In January 2014, a magistrate noted there was "continuous maligning of the judicial system".

Anita's advocate H S Shripad Murthy argued that the trio has posted these "scandalous allegations" even on social media websites. "People don't read newspapers. They are on the internet," he said. Dwarka argued that after the civil suit was transferred to the lower court, criminal cases were filed against him, due to which he has "lost faith in the judiciary". "I am not a criminal, I am the owner of the house. I am suffering," he said.

But the judges told Dwarka he has "no right to scandalize the judiciary". "That does not give you the right to defame the judicial system," said Justice Kanade. The judges remarked it is becoming increasingly difficult for judges and lawyers to deal with persons publishing defamatory material on social networking sites. "Some mechanism is required to be evolved otherwise it will be difficult for the institution (judiciary) to function properly," said Justice Kanade. The judges have reserved the order and will pronounce it on December 1.