On July 12, the public relations officer of Karnataka High Court received a threatening message on his WhatsApp.
PTI
The Advocates Association Bengaluru (AAB) wrote to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud asking for a review of the security system in place for judges considering the challenges it faces. The AAB sought the intervention of the CJI after the public relations officer of the Karnataka High Court K Muralidhar received a WhatsApp message on July 12 threatening him to deposit Rs 50 lakh in Pakistan’s Allied Bank. The miscreant threatened to kill six judges if he failed to deposit the money.
According to the Bar and Bench, the judges who were threatened are Justices Mohammad Nawaz, HT Narendra Prasad, HP Sandesh and K Natarajan as well as former judges Justices Ashok G Nijagannavar and B Veerappa.
The letter from the AAB said that if such incidents continued to happen, this would allow external forces to interfere with the judiciary. They also added that such an instance would threaten the independence of the courts. The letter also said, “Bold and fearless judgeship is very important and an essential facet of independence of judiciary.”
In light of the threatening WhatsApp message, the AAB stated that if the judiciary is threatened this way, people will lose their confidence in the institution. The letter also requested the CJI to initiate a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) to investigate the message and ensure that action is taken against the offenders. The AAB also sought measures to ensure better protection for judges.
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