Markandey Katju apologises for ‘wink’ remark after outrage from women lawyers’ body

Justice Markandey Katju, the outspoken former Supreme Court judge whose social media presence often attracts as much attention as his judicial career once did, has once again landed in controversy.

On Friday (August 22, 2025), he was forced to apologise after drawing sharp criticism over a social media post suggesting that women lawyers who winked at him secured favourable judicial orders.

Justice Katju had on August 20 shared the comment on social media platform X, before deleting it shortly afterwards.

However, the remark caught the attention of the Supreme Court Women Lawyers Association (SCWLA), which strongly condemned the post and demanded an unconditional apology.

A user of X even suggested, “All orders passed by him should be revisited”.

In his statement issued on Friday evening, Justice Katju wrote: “I hereby apologize for posting on fb that lady lawyers who winked at me got favourable orders. It was said as a joke, and in fact I deleted the post shortly after it was posted. However, it seems many lady lawyers took it seriously and felt hurt. So I apologize, as demanded by the Supreme Court Women Lawyers Association.”

This episode adds to a long list of public missteps by the 78-year-old former Judge since retiring from the Bench in September 2011. He has, in the past too, retracted his often controversial statements following public backlash.

In 2015, he apologized a day after suggesting Bollywood actor Katrina Kaif should be India’s next President. The same year, he drew criticism for calling Mahatma Gandhi ‘a British agent who did great harm to India’.

In 2012, while speaking at a seminar in the capital, Justice Katju commented that “at least 90 percent of Indians are idiots” who can be easily misled in the name of religion.

Meanwhile, following his latest controversial post, the SCWLA, in a detailed statement, said, “Such comments are not merely offensive but an assault on the dignity, credibility, competence, integrity and professional standing of every woman in the legal fraternity”.

“It is deeply disturbing that a former judge of the Supreme Court, who once entrusted with the responsibility of upholding constitutional values, would trivialize the hard work and merit of women lawyers through casual sexism,” SCWLA said.

“His words not only demean women advocates but also erode public confidence in the impartiality of the justice system and perpetuate harmful stereotypes that have no place in a democratic society,” it added.