Judge Shouldn't Be Labelled 'Liberal', 'Pro' Or 'Conservative' : Justice Amanullah

Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah of the Supreme Court yesterday remarked that labelling of judges as 'pro', 'conservative' or 'liberal', especially by the media, based on how the judge decides a case, is wrong. He reasoned that whatever opinion a judge ultimately holds is based on reasoning and law.

"Every time the press or public judges a judge, it's not fair, especially from the students of law and audience, which is so-called intellectuals...Give that trust and benefit to the judge that at his place, when he is judging, he has a lot of factors which you [public] are not aware of. He takes a holistic view. Every word from the Supreme Court makes a difference for the entire country and every other case which has to follow."

Justice Amanullah was answering a question raised by a student during the 1st Dr. Rajendra Prasad Memorial Lecture on 'Constitutionalism Beyond Rights: Why Structure Matters' organised by the Chanakya National Law University. The student had taken a reference to the cases of two journalists: Siddique Kappan and Arnab Goswami, and had questioned why the Supreme Court's structure on bail jurisprudence is inconsistent.

While the question was directed towards Justice BV Nagarathna, who was also present and delivered the lecture, Justice Amanullah chose to answer instead.

He said: "Let us be very clear, nobody in this audience except for the judges has the slightest idea of how the mind of a judge works."

He then added: "You may label a judge as pro, liberal or proactive. These are all misconceptions by the public. A judge may take a different view on the very same similar circumstances, but then he justifies and gives reasons. That is the beauty of the system."

Justice Amanullah added that once a matter is assigned to a judge, he decides based on the records, arguments, and ultimately going by the Constitution.

Urging to have trust in the judicial institution, he remarked: "You have to trust in the system. A judge is a judge. He should not be named as liberal, pro or conservative. It depends on case to case."