New Delhi, Aug 31, 2020: The Supreme Court of India on August 31 imposed a 1-rupee fine on lawyer activist Prashant Bhushan in a contempt of court case.
The court has asked Bhushan to pay the fine by September 15, failing which he will be sentenced to three months in jail or he cannot work as a lawyer for three years.
A three-judge bench of the apex court has on August 14 held Bhushan guilty of contempt for his tweets criticizing the Chief Justice of India S A Bobde and the Supreme Court.
The 63-year-old had refused to retract his comments or apologize, maintaining that it would be contempt of his conscience and the court. His lawyer has argued that that the court must and should take extreme criticism as its “shoulders are broad enough.”
Bhushan said he was giving his opinion about the functioning of the court in exercise of his freedom of speech. His tweets did not amount to “obstruction of justice,” necessitating the contempt proceedings.
However, Bhushan in an affidavit on August 3 had said he regretted only a “part of” what he tweeted and asserted that criticism of the top judge “does not scandalize” the court or lower its authority.
“To bona fide critique the actions of a Chief Justice or a succession of Chief Justices cannot and does not scandalize the court, nor does it lower the authority of the court,” Bhushan’s affidavit said.
Bhushan has on August 24 refused to offer an apology to the Supreme Court.
On August 20, the top court had granted him time until August 24 to reconsider his defiant statement refusing to apologize and tender unconditional apology for contemptuous tweets against the judiciary and rejected his submission that quantum of punishment be decided by another bench.
Bhushan said as an officer of court he believes as a duty to speak up when he believes there is a deviation from its sterling record.
“Therefore I expressed myself in good faith, not to malign the Supreme Court or any particular Chief Justice, but to offer constructive criticism so that the court can arrest any drift away from its long-standing role as a guardian of the Constitution and custodian of peoples’ rights.
Source: ndtv.com