Kaul also revealed that he had objected to Das's choice of language and advised him to exercise restraint and adopt a more moderate tone.
In an interview with news agency ANI, the former judge was responding to a question related to the Election Commission. During the conversation, he said social media had no accountability and that anyone could say anything on the platform.
Kaul said he was not on social media but could still find himself associated with a particular ideology through a photograph. He pointed to his picture with Das, a journalist, as an example of how such images could be used to suggest support for a particular ideology.
When asked to elaborate on the photograph, Kaul said it was taken around a year ago. He explained that Das had been a journalist and had met him a few times.
According to Kaul, Das had expressed a desire to meet him during Diwali. Kaul said he was heading somewhere else at the time but agreed to meet him briefly.
"That is a photograph from a year ago. He (Saurabh Das) was a journalist. He must have met me a few times. He said he wanted to come around Diwali. I was going somewhere else. I said, okay, I will meet him for 10 minutes. I told my wife to give him coffee, and I would see him off in 10 minutes before we left," Kaul said.
When asked whether he had been guiding Das, the retired judge denied doing so. However, he acknowledged that he had met him on a couple of occasions and had advised him to moderate his language.
Kaul said his views on the matter were shaped by the generation he belonged to, in which conversations were generally conducted in more civil and restrained language.
"I was not guiding him. But I met him once or twice. I told him to be a little restrained in his language. This is my view because we belong to a generation where the language used during conversations used to be more civil and polite. I think people should take a few steps back when it comes to language. At least for people of our generation, we were not accustomed to that kind of language. So, at times, it becomes uncomfortable," he said.
Kaul was also asked whether he would advise leaders of the CJP to tone down their aggression or whether such an approach was sometimes necessary to bring about change.
In response, he said he would not offer any advice to the party's leAaders, as doing so could lead to reports suggesting that he was guiding them.
"I will not give any advice, otherwise tomorrow there will be news that I am advising them," Kaul said.
His remarks came amid questions over the viral photograph and the implications of social media posts associating public figures with particular political ideologies. Kaul's explanation clarified the circumstances in which he met Das and the nature of his interaction with the CJP co-convenor.
About The Author
Comment List