Former Supreme Court judge Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul denied mentoring CJP member Saurav Das. A photograph of them from a Diwali gathering a year ago sparked controversy. Justice Kaul said, "He was a journalist, maybe met me a couple of times." He only advised Das to use better language.

Justice Kaul said a photograph of him with Saurav Das, taken at a Diwali gathering about a year ago, was being used to suggest that he had a particular ideology.

Justice (Retd) Sanjay Kishan Kaul. (Right) Saurav Das of CJP

NDTV Photo

New Delhi:

Amid the controversy surrounding a picture of his with Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) member Saurav Das, former Supreme Court judge Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul has clarified that he was not mentoring the activist, and had met him as a journalist only a couple of times.

In an interview with ANI, Justice Kaul said a photograph of him with Das, taken at a Diwali gathering about a year ago, was being used to suggest that he had a particular ideology.

"So, it was one year ago. He was not even in the news then," Justice Kaul said, explaining how he came to meet Das.

Saurav Das was a legal journalist before he joined the CJP movement founded by Abhijeet Dipke. The CJP has been at the forefront of the protests against the Election Commission and also spearheaded the protest against NEET paper leak before that, which resulted in the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

"He was a journalist, maybe met me a couple of times. He was insistent that I must, at Diwali time, come. I was going somewhere else. I said, 'Okay, I'll drop in for ten minutes.' I told my wife, 'Have a cup of coffee, I'll drop in for ten minutes, and then we'll go.' That's all that happened," he said.

When asked whether he had mentored Das at any point, Justice Kaul denied doing so, while acknowledging that he had advised him on his choice of words.

"I was not mentoring him, but once or twice he met me, I told him that, I will always tell you to taper down a little in your language," he said.

Justice Kaul said differences in language across generations could sometimes be a source of discomfort, particularly for people accustomed to more civil forms of conversation.

"That's my view, because we belong to a generation where talking is in far more civil language when it happens. That's maybe not the Gen Z's language sometime," he said.

Asked whether such language could eventually make its way into courtrooms and whether this was a matter of concern, Justice Kaul said people needed to exercise restraint.

"I think people need to draw a couple of steps back on the language, at least for people of our generations. We are not used to that language, so, it hurts at times," he said.

When asked whether he would advise the CJP youngsters to tone down their aggression or whether such aggression was necessary to bring about reform, Justice Kaul declined to offer any specific advice.

"I wouldn't like to advise them in any way. Tomorrow, you'll have a news that I am advising them!" he said with a laugh.

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