Mangaluru: Former Supreme Court judge N Santosh Hegde condemned the action of four senior judges in going public over internal matters of the judiciary, saying it affected the reputation of the institution and may amount to contempt of court.

Questioning their action, he said internal matters of the judiciary should not have been brought to the public for discussion because neither the public nor the government or the executive can give any relief to them.

In an unprecedented move in the country’s judicial history, Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph had held a press conference yesterday and mounted a virtual revolt against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, questioning him on the selective allocation of cases and certain judicial orders passed by him.

Hegde, a former Lokayukta of Karnataka, said their action would not benefit anybody other than drawing public attention. He said institutions like the judiciary survive on the confidence of the people.