New Delhi, Dec. 12 -- "I am a very tough person", Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said on Thursday, a comment that is significant given that it comes against the backdrop of a heated public debate over his oral observations on December 2 in a case concerning the custodial disappearance of Rohingya refugees that have been criticised by some academics and former jurists. The CJI added that he remains completely "unaffected" by criticism directed at him outside the courtroom. He said that judicial questioning in court is meant to "elicit answers" and test competing arguments. "I can see this trend now. Everyone starts commenting on matters that are pending before us and what we observe in the court. We ask questions in the court to elicit answers from both sides.there are times when we create hypothetical situations too for understanding an issue," the CJI remarked during a hearing. "But I am not affected by all this.on social media or otherwise. If anybody thinks, they can browbeat...they are wrong. I am a very tough person," he added. The Chief Justice's comment on refugees came while hearing activist Rita Manchanda's habeas corpus petition. CJI Kant, presiding a bench that included Justice Joymalya Bagchi, had questioned whether courts and governments were expected to "roll out a red carpet" for illegal entrants when millions of Indian citizens still struggle for basic entitlements such as food, education, housing and medical care. The remarks went viral online, prompting two sharply divergent open letters over the past week. In an open letter dated December 5, former judges, senior lawyers and academics criticised the CJI's observations as "unconscionable" and "hostile to the dignity" of people fleeing persecution....