Bring me back to the Bench: Justice Rohinton Nariman's witty response when asked about frivolous cases for social media posts

Constitutional values must be felt or they are nothing, former Supreme Court Justice Rohinton Nariman said on Wednesday when asked about the top court’s handling of the case related to Ashoka University professor’s social media post on Operation Sindoor. 

“You have to feel the constitutional values; otherwise they are nothing,” Justice Nariman said. 

Justice Nariman made the statement in response to a question by a member of the audience after he delivered the KM Bashir Memorial Lecture organised by the Press Club of Ernakulam, Kerala, on the topic "Fraternity in a secular state: the protection of cultural rights and duties".

The audience members referred to Justice Nariman’s judgment striking down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act (IT Act) for violating the right to freedom of speech and said that the Ashoka University Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad was arrested for putting a post “which probably did not mean anything”. 

Has the striking down of Section 66A served its purpose and if not what is the remedy, the person asked.  

Justice Nariman chose to reply on a lighter note.

“Remedy is you bring me back to the bench. And I'm not being specious. Bring me back to the bench,” he said. 

Read what Justice Nariman said about loudspeakers here.