The IANS has reported that the Central Government has sought information from the Supreme Court and High Courts about judges who are airing their views on blogs and social networking sites such as Twitter. The Himachal Pradesh High Court has already received the communication from the Union Law Ministry.

Confirming this, Chief Justice Kurian Joseph told IANS: "We have received a communication but we are collecting information in this regard." 

The ministry's letter has sought the information from the Secretary-General of the Supreme Court and Registrar-Generals of High Courts. A Himachal Pradesh High Court official here said Chief Justice Joseph has directed the Registrar-General to circulate the ministry's letter among all the 11 judges for their comments on the issue. 

The letter asks whether the High Court judges are airing their voice through blogs and Twitter. Whether it is not against the code of conduct of the judges? And if so, what preventive measures are being taken to check the trend? 

Justice Shylendra Kumar of the Karnataka High Court and Justice Kannan of the Punjab & Haryana High Court were one of the first few judges who were famous for their blogs. In an editorial, Justice Shylendra Kumar on the issue of disclosure of assets had said “The Chief Justice (of India) cannot speak for the members of the judiciary unless they had confided in or authorised him to do so”. The then CJI K.G. Balakrishnan had said in his reply "He wants publicity and such a thing is not good for a judge. Judges should not be publicity-crazy".

In a separate incident, Justice Shylendra Kumar on his blog and also in a speech had apologized for Arundhati Roy’s conviction for contempt of the Supreme Court in the Narmada Bachao Andolan matter. “I, as a Judge, through this expression, offer my personal regret and apology to Ms. Arundhati Roy for the judicial tyranny let loose on her by the most improper use of the power to punish a person for committing contempt of court,” he added, clearly criticizing the Supreme Court’s action.

Justice K. Kannan of the Punjab & Haryana High Court, too had written on the Delhi High Court verdict, "CIC verdict directing the Supreme Court judges to declare their assets has found widespread approbation and the attempt of the Supreme Court to reverse the verdict by filing a writ petition before the Delhi High Court has drawn flak from many a quarter". 

The decision of the Government will be keenly watched after it obtains the data relating to the blogging and tweeting judges. Will the Government impose a ban of members of the judiciary from tweeting and blogging? Should the Government ban Twitter and blog accounts for judges?