Sitting judges cannot give interviews on cases, says SC

Sitting judges have no business to give interviews to news channels on sub-judice matters, a Supreme Court bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud and justice PS Narasimha said on Monday. The bench disapproved of an interview Calcutta High Court's justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay reportedly gave to a news channel. In the interview, the judge, before whose bench a case against Trinamool leader Abhishek Banerjee existed, is believed to have made some remarks on Banerjee.

If judges give interviews on sub-judice matters, they cannot adjudicate on the case discussed, the bench said. It asked the HC for a report and the registrar general to personally verify from justice Gangopadhyay if he was interviewed and, if so, to clarify. The registrar general has been asked to file an affidavit before Friday. If interview is confirmed, he may have to recuse himself from hearing the school jobs recruitment case.

The development took place during the resumed hearing of a plea Banerjee filed in SC, challenging justice Gangopadhyay's order for CBI and ED probes against Banerjee in the school jobs recruitment case. Banerjee contended in SC that the HC judge 'expressed dislike for him in the interview'.


"When a judge gives an opinion on the petitioner on a TV debate, then he cannot hear it. The high court chief justice then has to constitute a new bench... We entertained this on the way the judge handled the matter. This cannot be the way," the CJI remarked.