New Delhi, 03 January: The Supreme Court has said that apart from the reasonable restrictions under Section 19 (2) of the Constitution, additional restrictions cannot be imposed on public representatives. The court said that the statement of a minister cannot be considered as the statement of the government. If the minister’s statement has affected the case, then recourse can be taken to the law.
The five-member constitution bench, which heard the matter, included Justice S Abdul Nazeer, Justice BR Gavai, Justice AS Bopanna, Justice V Ramasubramaniam and Justice BV Nagaratna. The Supreme Court is looking into whether ministers or officers can be stopped from making unnecessary comments in criminal cases.
A bench headed by Justice S Abdul Nazeer had reserved the verdict on November 11. In the year 2016, this case started after the statement of Azam Khan in the Bulandshahr gangrape case. The Supreme Court, on October 5, 2017, had considered the hearing necessary after the statement of the then Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan on the Bulandshahr gangrape and referred the matter to the Constitution Bench.
