NEW DELHI, Nov 4: Merits of a case may be quite different from what is shown in the media, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said on Monday, when asked about the delay in hearing on the bail plea of former JNU student Umar Khalid, lodged in jail in a Delhi riots case.
A judge applies his mind to a case while hearing it, and decides on its merit without being biased, the CJI asserted in the same breath.
Chandrachud said that in the media a particular case assumes significance and then the court is criticised on that particular case.
“After I took over as CJI, I decided to prioritise bail cases as it pertains to personal liberty. It was decided that at least every bench of the top court should hear 10 bail cases. Between November 9, 2022, and November 1, 2024, 21,000 bail cases were filed in the Supreme Court. During this period, 21,358 bail cases have been disposed of,” he said.
In the same period, 901 out of 967 Prevention of Money Laundering Act cases filed during were disposed of, he said.
“A dozen political cases involving prominent ones, where bail has been granted in recent months. Very often, in the media, a certain facet or atmospherics of a case are being made out.
“When a judge applies mind to the record of a case, what emerges may be quite different from what is portrayed in the media on the merits of that particular case. The judge applies his mind to the concerned cases and then decides the case.
“Speaking for myself, I have granted bail from A to Z (Arnab Goswami to Zubair) and that’s my philosophy,” Chandrachud said at an event organised by the Indian Express group.
He said the principle that ‘bail is the rule and jail is the exception’ must predominantly be followed but it was yet to permeate to the trial courts.
The 50th CJI said there were pressure groups who were trying to get a favourable verdict by putting pressure on the court by using the electronic media.
“A lot of segment of this group says if you decide the case in my favour then you are independent if you don’t you are not independent. Independence means a judge must be able to decide a case as per his conscience,” the preeminent judge said.
“When you decide electoral bonds, then you are very independent but if a verdict goes in favour of the Government, then you are not independent. That’s not my definition of independence,” he added. (PTI)
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