Justice Markandey Katju Challenges Neelu Vyas' Claims About 75 Judges Visiting London
- Fact-Check: Justice Katju Responds to Viral Claims About Indian Judges in London
- Justice Katju Accuses Neelu Vyas of Spreading False Claims on London Judges Story
The London Judges Controversy: Justice Katju's Detailed Rebuttal to Neelu Vyas
Retired Supreme Court judge Justice Markandey Katju has issued a detailed rebuttal to viral claims made by journalist Neelu Vyas regarding Indian judges allegedly travelling to London. Read the controversy, the competing claims and why it has reignited debate over media credibility and fact-checking....
Neelu Vyas peddles lies again
By Justice Markandey Katju
The journalist Neelu Vyas presented a video show with advocate Arun Agarwal peddling the lie that 75 Indian judges went recently to London to play badminton.
Judges who do something wrong should certainly be criticized, and I have often strongly criticized them myself. But that is different from fake news.
I made personal enquiries from several Supreme and High Court judges, and came to know that no Supreme Judge went to London to play badminton. Only 2 Allahabad High Court judges, who are themselves good badminton players, went there. So it was fake news peddled by Neelu Vyas and Arun Agarwal
In rebuttal, Neelu Vyas put up a second show on the topic, with Arun Agarwal
In this show, Neelu said that in the first show she and Arun Agarwal only said that the Law Minister and the judges received an invite. But they never said in the first show that the judges accepted the invite ( even assuming they received it ). The truth is that they repeatedly said that 75 judges went to London to play badminton.
In the second show, Arun Agarwal spoke of matters totally unconnected with the topic in issue e.g. that I receive 'moti' pension, that there was a contempt of court case against me, that I had given evidence in support of Nirav Modi, etc. Not a word did he say that in the first show he spoke a total lie that a large number of judges went to London to play badminton, and neither did Neelu.
I will quote some of the exact words these liars used in the first show :
Neelu says in the beginning of the show: Ek poster mein dikhaaya gaya hai ki Law Minister ke saath 75 judges London mein chuttiya manaa rahe hain. Ab aap yeh sochiye ki yeh saare judges chuttiya manaane ke liye London kyon gaye?
Neelu therefore presumes that the judges did indeed go to London.
Neelu then says: Justice Surya Kant aur unke saath 75 judges, poore judges ka kunba chutti manaane ke liye wahaan ( i.e. London ) pahunche hain. -- Aakhir yeh maajra kya hai? Kyon 75 judges wahaan ( i.e. in London ) pahunche hain ?
Arun Agarwal said that judges going to London to play badminton was vulgar and obscene.
He said: Inhone England mein apni aur poore desh ki beizzati karaayi hai. Agar judges ko fit rehna hai to chutti manaane kya London jaana hai? Kya yeh SIR ke faisle ka reward hai ? The event was sponsored by corporates. Kya corporate bidding hui hai?
Neelu then asks: Is cheez ki ijaazat kaise mil gayi?
Thus impliedly she repeats her lie that 75 judges went to London to play badminton
Arun Agarwal says: Tournament ek bahaana tha. Ek hi 5-star hotel mein reh rahe hain, chai paani kar rahe hain. Ek nahi, do nahi, 75 judges ke jaani ki logic kya thi ? Collegium ke 3-4 judges bhi the. Wahaan jaakar apna mazaaq udwaaya. Kam se kam India mein kar lete. Foreign exchange bach jaata. Wahaan ka ( i.e. London ka ) badminton court itna achcha hai?
Neelu says: Kitne log poochenge ki London jaane ki logic kya thi ? Kya yeh ek ghinauna circle nahi saamne aa raha hai ? Jab invite mila hoga kya unki aatma ne nahi bola hoga ki yeh judicial impropriety hai. Yeh to khule aam kar rahe hain, aur woh bhi videshi zameen par. Kis basis par un judges ( i.e. judges who presumably went to London ) ka selection hua ?
Arun Agarwal says: In 75 judges mein kitne badminton ke khiladi hain, aur kitne khilaadi ? Aap is tareh se London mein celebrate kar rahe hain, jabki poore desh mein economic crisis hai. God help this country
Neelu also says: Jaise sar-e-aam neelaami hoti hai, usi tareh judiciary ne apne ko benaqaab kar diya hai, bilkul neelaam ho gayi hai
Now, does this not reveal that in the first show, both Neelu Vyas and Arun Agarwal were peddling a lie that 75 judges went to London to play badminton? And when I exposed them, instead of admitting their lies, Neelu said that the first show was only about an invite, and never said that 75 judges went to London to play badminton ( which was totally false as she repeatedly said in the first show that 75 judges went to London to play badminton ), and Arun Agarwal launched a personal attack on me, thus trying to divert attention from the topic under consideration, like a slick lawyer skilfully avoiding all that he said in the first show.
God help this country if we have such phoney journalists who talks of the 'atma'' of judges, but seems to lack one herself.
(Justice Katju is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India and a former Chairman of the Press Council of India. These are his personal views.)
