Supreme Court Holds Lawyer Prashant Bhushan Guilty of Contempt for Tweets Against Judiciary

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Prashant Bhushan

Bhushan had tweeted to express his opinion that the action or inaction of the last four Chief Justices of India had contributed to the destruction of democracy in the country, without even a formal Emergency in the country.

Clarion India

NEW DELHI —The Supreme Court Friday held senior advocate Prashant Bhushan guilty of criminal contempt of court for his tweets criticizing the conduct of the judiciary.

The apex court will hear the arguments on the quantum of punishment at the next hearing on August 20.

The court pointed out that the Emergency period was considered the blackest in the history of Indian democracy. In June-end, Bhushan had tweeted to express his opinion that the action or inaction of the last four Chief Justices of India had contributed to the destruction of democracy in the country, without even a formal Emergency in the country.

In a 108-page judgment, a bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari said: “It is common knowledge that the Emergency era has been considered as the blackest era in the history of Indian democracy.”

A contempt of court may be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to Rs 2,000, or with both, provided that the accused may be discharged or the punishment awarded may be remitted on apology being made to the satisfaction of the court.

The bench said that “the impression which the tweet tends to give to an ordinary citizen is that when the historians in future look back, the impression they will get is that in the last six years, the democracy has been destroyed in India without even a formal Emergency and that the Supreme Court had a particular role in the said destruction and the last four CJIs had more particular role in the said destruction”.

The court said that the attack on the judiciary had to be dealt with “a requisite degree of firmness”, as it “may affect the national honour and prestige in the comity of nations.”

“Fearless and impartial courts of justice are the bulwarks of a healthy democracy and the confidence in them cannot be permitted to be impaired by malicious attacks upon them.”

The court further observed that the “tweets based on distorted facts, in our considered view, amount to committing criminal contempt”.

“An attempt to shake the very foundation of constitutional democracy has to be dealt with an iron hand. The tweet has the effect of destabilising the very foundation of this important pillar of the Indian democracy,” the Supreme Court added.

The top court observed that the tweet clearly tended to give an impression that the Supreme Court, which is the highest constitutional court in the country, had in the last six years played a vital role in the destruction of the Indian democracy.

The bench added that while considering whether this criticism was made in a good faith or not, the attending circumstances were also required to be taken into consideration. One of the attending circumstances was the extent of publication. “The publication by tweet reaches millions of people and, as such, such a huge extent of publication would also be one of the factors that requires to be taken into consideration while considering the question of good faith,” the court added.

The court noted that Bhushan had been practising in the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court for the last 30 years and had consistently taken up many issues of public interest concerning “the health of our democracy and its institutions, and, in particular, the functioning of our judiciary and its accountability.”

“The alleged contemnor being part of the institution of administration of justice, instead of protecting the majesty of law, has indulged in an act which tends to bring disrepute to the institution of administration of justice,” the court ruled.

The top court reminded that the Indian judiciary was not only one of the pillars on which the Indian democracy stood, but also the central pillar and that the Indian constitutional democracy stood on the bedrock of rule of law.

On Thursday, veteran journalists Arun Shourie and N. Ram and Bhushan had withdrawn their Supreme Court petition that had challenged the constitutional validity of the provision that criminalises contempt for “scandalising” the court.

(with IANS inputs)

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Clarion India - News, Views and Insights about Indian Muslims, Dalits, Minorities, Women and Other Marginalised and Dispossessed Communities.

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