Kochi: Kerala High Court today observed that some comments made by Chief Minister V S Achutanandan regarding a judge hearing the palm oil case were "callous, irresponsible" and amounts to "interference in justice".

The observations were made by Justice S Sirijagan when the impleading petitions by Central and State Governments and other petitioners challenging the stay on the Central Government order on import of palm oil through Cochin Port came up before the court.

"If it (the chief minister's comments) were actually made, the same is against the basic principles of democracy and it is a sad reflection of the democratic values of the state. It may even amount to contempt," the court said.

The remarks of the chief minister were "sub judice and affects democratic values," Justice Sirijagan observed. It should be ignored with the contempt it deserves, he added.

The court stated, "This court has the courage of conviction to ignore the statements with the contempt they deserve and to decide the case dispassionately unreflected by such outbursts. But when the Chief Minister of the state makes such callous and irresponsible statements, the party who may be affected by the judgement may justifiably have the feeling that the judgement is the result of such interference, which in turn would erode the confidence of the public in the judicial system, which this court wants to avoid at any cost."

Justice Sirijagan did not entertain further hearing in this case and directed to place the case before the Chief Justice.

Source : PTI