The court has asked the petitioners to come up with their suggestions within six weeks.
Hearing petitions seeking a ban on websites featuring jokes on the Sikh community, the Supreme Court today asked for suggestions.
"Tell us what can be done in our judicial capacity," Chief Justice of India TS Thakur told the petitioners - lawyer Harvinder Chowdhury and the Delhi Gurudwara Managing Committee - who have argued that jokes on the community are circulated more than ever because of social media.
The court asked them to suggest how the restraining order they have sought can be "enforced judicially."
"We have had many leaders who were Sikhs and even a Sikh PM," one of the lawyers said in court. The Chief Justice intervened and said, "You had (a Sikh) army chief also. Soon you will be having a Sikh as the Chief Justice of India (referring to Justice JS Khehar). We can stop jokes when they are circulated for a commercial purpose. But suppose if your (pointing out to the arguing lawyer) colleague in the canteen makes a joke, you also laugh. Can we stop him? Will you file a contempt (complaint) against your colleague?"
The court has asked the petitioners to come up with their suggestions within six weeks.
In the last hearing, the bench had asked one of the petitioners, a woman lawyer, to suggest who she thought could determine whether a joke is derogatory.
The plea in court states that there are more than 5,000 websites which feature jokes on Sikhs and project members of the community "in poor light".