Journalist's tweet against sitting judge irks Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court Thursday expressed anguish over the comments made by an editor of a Chennai-based news magazine against a sitting high court judge and said the case concerns the judicial system.

A bench of justices Siddharth Mridul and I S Mehta said journalistic licence does not give a person the right to make unsavoury allegations.

"We are all in for free press but don't attribute motive to us," the bench said.

The court was hearing a contempt plea filed against Swaminathan Gurumurthy, editor of Tamil weekly magazine 'Thuglak' by the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA).

The bench said the present case does not concern a specific judge but the judicial system and observed, "We are not supposed to defend ourselves on social media. Judges don't defend themselves. Is this fair comment that you attribute motive to the judiciary? We are dismayed."