Everyone has the right to have their opinions about the Indian judiciary, as long as they are expressed in good faith and with respect, a Delhi court said on Tuesday.
Prateek Jalan was hearing a plea seeking the reinstatement of Justice Abhijit Iyer Mitra’s Twitter account when he observed that his “retweet” about the judge was “biased and unaccountable” and whether the courts should do reversals to give the right side. among those who have this view.
“You have the right to receive opinions about our judicial power, as long as they are expressed in good faith and respectfully and not without doubt. You have the right to receive those opinions, but when you come to court for equitable relief, I also have the right to see that the one who seeks equity does so,” said the judge.
“He has the right to have that view… I’m very comfortable with the idea that there will be people who think that way around our judiciary. But I’m wondering if the judiciary should make a U-turn to provide fair relief to these people,” he added.
Mitra moved the high court earlier this year, saying that after his tweet about the Supreme Court’s bail to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in a criminal court case, Twitter had “unilaterally” banned his Twitter account, making it completely inaccessible. was the former to engage with his 1.5 lakh followers.
On Tuesday, Mitra’s lawyer said his client’s “retweet,” which is not the subject of the lawsuit, may not be admissible and asked the court to hear an interim plea to reinstate his account while the lawsuit is pending. , “especially with the tension brewing on the Tawang border,” which made it important for the plaintiff, a defense analyst, to air “India’s point of view.”
The court, however, told Mitra that India was not a monolith and his view was not necessarily an “Indian view”.
“You have the right to spread your view, but your view is not necessarily an Indian view. You can spread your view, but please don’t take it upon yourself to spread the Indian view… India is not a monolith. Many Indians have different views on many issues. Each he has the right to spread his opinion including you,” the court said.
The court listed the case on February 16 and ordered Twitter to file its response within four weeks.