New Delhi (ILNS): The Andhra Pradesh High Court yesterday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe social media posts against judges and the judiciary. The high court asked the CBI to examine whether the attacks on the judiciary were made as a result of a larger conspiracy and if so, take appropriate action against the culprits, irrespective of the post and position.
The bench of Justices Rakesh Kumar and Uma Devi passed this order in suo motu proceedings, seeking an investigation of social media posts and regulation of content relating to the judiciary on social media.
The Court noted:
“The persons occupying high posts are indulging in waging war against the judicial system in the state, oblivious to the fact that even their entity existed since there is a democratic system in our country. In a democratic state, if such a war is initiated against the judicial system by persons holding high positions, certainly it will create unnecessary doubt in the mind of citizens against the judicial system, which may cripple the entire system.”
The court stated that the circumstances under which the judges were targeted needed to be investigated thoroughly, as such personal attacks were an affront to the judicial wing of democracy.
The judges gave liberty to the CBI to register a fresh FIR, if necessary, directing the high court registry to hand over all material, including the writ petition to the CBI.
The court also wanted the CBI to take steps to remove the alleged derogatory social media posts and block the users as per the law, directing the CBI to submit a report of the probe in a sealed cover within eight weeks.
It posted the case to December 14 for further hearing.
-India Legal Bureau