Last Updated:
Markandey Katju faces backlash after suggesting a woman lawyer wink at judges for favorable orders, sparking debate over judiciary conduct on social media.
Retires SC Judge Markandey Katju. (File)
Former Supreme Court Justice Markandey Katju triggered outrage on social media platforms after he suggested a woman lawyer seeking his advice that she should wink at judges to get “favorable orders.”
Katju’s remarks came on an X post by a woman lawyer seeking to know how to argue a case effectively in court. To this, Katju replied, “All the lady lawyers who winked at me in court got favourable orders.”
Recommended Stories
The X post quickly went viral and drew criticism from social media users, including advocates. Several people called out Katju for his “distasteful” comments and said that they were “demeaning to the judiciary”.
Following the backlash, Katju deleted the comment.
One advocate responding to the tweet wrote, “The tweet is deleted now. All orders passed by him should be revisited.”
However, screenshots of the post continued to circulate widely even after it was taken down.
Katju’s Past Controversies
Justice Katju, who retired from the Supreme Court in 2011, is no stranger to controversy online. He is known for his frequent hot takes on politics, poetry and philosophy, often mixing commentary with Urdu couplets and personal anecdotes.
In 2015, he courted criticism after saying that the BJP would have performed better in Delhi elections had it fielded Shazia Ilmi instead of Kiran Bedi, arguing that Ilmi was “much more beautiful.”
In 2020, after the brutal Hathras gang-rape case, Katju wrote that rape was a “natural urge in men”, worsened by unemployment and the inability to marry. He suggested that creating more jobs would reduce sexual violence.
More recently, he has used social media to express views on issues ranging from the hijab row in Karnataka to the reunification of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Katju previously served as Chief Justice of the Madras and Delhi High Courts, after which he became a Supreme Court judge in 2006. He retired in 2011 and later chaired the Press Council of India till the year 2014.
About the Author
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben…Read More
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben… Read More
Loading comments…
Read More
 "Why are American hedge fund investors angry? They point to ‘passthrough fees’")
