New Delhi: Former Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna on Monday stressed the need for strong safeguards to keep bias and prejudice out of institutions. He underlined the critical role of the judiciary and media in checking the excesses of the executive and legislature.
Speaking at the Prem Bhatia Memorial Lecture on “Judiciary and Media: Shared Principles — Similarities and Dissimilarities,” Justice Khanna said plurality is the foundation of institutions. “No body tasked with protecting liberty can afford to become a single, unitary voice,” he noted.
He warned that bias in institutions makes rationality indistinguishable from propaganda. He called propaganda a serious threat to social cohesion. “Reporting is healthy only when not polluted by prejudice, bias, or polarisation,” he said. He also urged the use of respectful language in public discourse.
Justice Khanna advised courts to resist the urge to censor uncomfortable speech. He stressed that the judiciary should not endorse majoritarian morality. He noted that the media often exposes errors in governance. Silencing it, he warned, would remove a key tool for democratic correction.
At the event, journalist Jeff Joseph Paul Kadiccheeni received the Prem Bhatia Award for Excellence in Environmental Journalism (2025). Parth M N was honoured for outstanding political journalism.
