"People Short On Patience, Tolerance...": Chief Justice On Troll Menace

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud has highlighted the problem of trolling "in an age when people are short on their patience and tolerance". What leads to this problem is people's unwillingness to accept opinion and perspective that are different from their own, Chief Justice Chandrachud said at an event on law in the age of globalisation in Delhi today.

"Every little thing that we do - and believe me, as judges we are no exception to this - in everything that you do, you face the threat of being trolled by someone who doesn't share your point of view," Chief Justice Chandrachud said.

"We live in an age today when people are short on their patience, they are short on their tolerance, they are short on their patience - which has reminded me to be brief - but people are also short on their tolerance because we are not willing to accept perspectives which are different from our own," he said.

On social media, especially on the world's biggest microblogging website Twitter, the problem of trolling is severe. Anyone can become a target, despite strict checks and mechanisms to stop abuse.

The Supreme Court has raised concerns on trolling several times, which can even lead to physical attacks. In 2017, taking note of attacks on social media on almost every issue, including on judges and judicial proceedings, the Supreme Court had agreed that regulation was needed. It correctly identified the problem of people using social media to spread wrong information about court proceedings.

On the matter of appointing more women judges in the Supreme Court and the high court, Chief Justice Chandrachud said he definitely supports it, but the answer "is a little complex".

"I am often asked about why we can't have more women judges in the Supreme Court than we have, why can't we have more high court judges from among the women we have. And the answer is not simple, the answer is a little complex. And I hope it has a gem of truth," Chief Justice Chandrachud said.

"The seeds of our institutions today in terms of inclusion, diversity reflect the state of the profession, say two decades ago. Because the judges who come to the high court today, in 2023, the judges who come to the Supreme Court in 2023, reflect the state of the bar in the beginning of the millennium," he said.