Justice Katju On Gandhi, Netaji: Top Court To Decide On Parliament's Censure

New Delhi: Did the Parliament overreach by passing a resolution condemning the statements by former Supreme Court judge Justice Markandey Katju? That's something that the top court is examining.

Justice Katju had in a blog described Mahatma Gandhi as a possible British agent and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as a Japanese agent, which evoked sharp condemnation from Parliament which then passed a resolution against Justice Katju condemning his remarks.

The former judge has taken Parliament to court and today his counsel, Gopal Subramanium, told the court that the Parliament had denied him the right to be heard before passing the resolution condemning his views.

"This was a censure motion and indictment by Parliament and so they had to give the former judge a right to be heard before passing it," Mr Subramanium told the court.

Chief Justice TS Thakur, who is hearing the case, asked Mr Subramanium, "Which right of yours (justice Katju) has been impinged upon?" adding that "Parliament too had a right to express their view just as Katju had within the confines of law."

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Noted jurist Fali Nariman, who is assisting the Supreme Court, today told the court that the resolution by Parliament was only a resolution and not any censure. He also added that while every citizen had a right to free speech, in this case the Parliament had stepped in to condemn him because he was a former judge of the Supreme Court and as such his views would not be taken lightly by citizens.

"If you want to exercise your right as a citizen do so but don't be a super citizen," Mr Nariman told the court.

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The Supreme Court will hear the Centre's view on the matter on Thursday before deciding on Justice Katju's case.