“This is Justice SriKrishna. A very upright judge from Mumbai High Court,who was also elevated to the Supreme Court. Please listen to what he says about the Hyderabad encounter and what ails the Judiciary system.”
The above text is viral on social media, along with a video in which a man gives his view on the recent Hyderabad encounter and the judicial system in India. The video has been shared widely in the aftermath of the encounter of the accused in the Hyderabad gang-rape and murder case. The person in the video speaks about the encounter, while referring to the delays of the judicial process and the apathy of the judicial system. It is claimed that this person is Justice Srikrishna, “a very upright judge from Mumbai High Court”. It may be noted that Justice B N Srikrishna was a judge in the Supreme Court from 2002 to 2006.
The person in his monologue cites the lack of solid evidence in the case and says, “It was a tough case for the police to prove, and they would have to depend on the confession of one of the four accused who turned approver, and that would have led to a bigger outcry. What does the police then do? Do they go to the courts and despite the so called fast track courts, the accused then appeal to the next higher court and then it would drag on for months and months, and then to the next court, so from trial to sessions to district to state high court and finally supreme court. And if there’s a death sentence, the president gets involved. But ladies and gentlemen, that is not the question. Our judicial system is broken. It’s pathetic. There are cases which go on for two to three decades without seeing an end, because there are vested interests at heart.”
This is Justice Sri Krishna. A very upright judge from Mumbai High Court, who was also elevated to the Supreme Court in India
Please listen to what he says about the Hyderabad encounter and what ails the Judiciary system
Posted by Gopa Kumar on Monday, December 9, 2019
The 5:03 minute video has been shared with the same text by numerous Facebook users.
The video has been shared on Twitter as well. It has also been posted on YouTube. Not surprisingly, Alt News received several requests for verification on the official app.
FACT CHECK: FALSE CLAIM
Alt News found that the person in the video is not Justice Srikrishna. He is Suresh Kochattil, who claims to be a member of the BJP. Alt News found the same video posted by him on his Twitter profile on December 9.
A few days ago, to be precise, on the day when Cyberabad Police knocked off the four accused in #Disha rape and murder case, i posted on Facebook, a video recorded on my mobile phone. It was a set of points that were going on in my mind and i just spoke.https://t.co/ZlHg714oAf
— Suresh Kochattil (@kochattil) December 9,
2019
Moreover, the person in the video i.e. Suresh Kochattil looks nothing like Justice B N Srikrishna.
In 2018 when Kerala was reeling under heavy floods, Kochattil had created a controversy, when an audio clip of him had gone viral wherein he appealed to people not to send relief to flood victims as they belonged to “very well to do” families, thus suggesting only the rich were affected by the deluge. He had further suggested that donations be made to Seva Bharati, an affiliate organisation of the RSS.
It may thus be noted that the person seen in the video speaking about the Hyderabad encounter and the judicial system, is not a judge in the Bombay High Court. The person is Suresh Kochattil, a member of the BJP.
