New Delhi: In his inaugural lecture made in the memory of Justice Satya Brata Sinha in Ranchi, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana said that agenda-driven debates and kangaroo courts being run by the media are detrimental to the health of the country’s democracy. He added that the media is propagating biased views, which is enough to weak democracy and harm the system. He also said that print has a certain level of accountability but we cannot believe in the authenticity of electronic media.
”Media trails cannot be a guiding factor in deciding cases. We see the media running kangaroo courts at times on issues even experienced and senior judges find difficult to decide before delivering the verdict,” said the CJI.
Talking about the burden on judicial infrastructure, CJI Ramana said, ”The burden on an already fragile judicial infrastructure is scaling up by the day….However, I have not listened to any concrete plan to equip the judiciary to meet the challenges of the foreseeable future.”
What is Kangaroo Court?
The phrase ”Kangaroo Court” is used against a judicial system where the judgement against the accused is usually predetermined. Moreover, the system does not work on the standards of law or justice. In Kangaroo Court, the procedure is only conducted as a formality.
Kangaroo Courts are known for working against the phrase ”innocent until proven guilty”. The court does not allow to appeal against its judgement.
The origin of Kangaroo Court
The Kangaroo is a famous animal only found in Australia. There are no records, suggesting the origin of the phrase Kangaroo Court. However, the term is reportedly found in a magazine written by Philip Paxton around 1853 in his article ”A Stray Yankee in Texas”.
According to the reports, the Kangaroo Courts were common during the Stalin era in the Soviet Union, famous as the ”Moscow Trails” of the Soviet Great Purge”. Reportedly, the government run massive newspaper campaigns to shape public opinion against the accused.
