Supreme Court on Friday held senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt of court for his tweets on Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde and the Supreme Court.
“These charges are serious,” a three-judge bench of Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari said while delivering the verdict through video conferencing. The Supreme Court will decide on the sentence on August 20.
Bhushan was held guilty of contempt of court for two of his tweets. In the first one, which was posted on June 29, he had commented on a photo of CJI Bobde on a superbike. Bhushan in an affidavit on August 2 said he regretted asking why Justice Bobde was not wearing a helmet, since the bike was on a stand.
“At the outset I admit that I did not notice that the bike was on a stand and therefore wearing a helmet was not required. I, therefore, regret that part of my tweet. However, I stand by the remaining part of what I have stated in my tweet…” the lawyer said in his affidavit.
In his second tweet, Bhushan expressed his opinion on the role of last four CJIs amid the state of affairs in the country. He said he was exercising his freedom of speech and giving his opinion about the functioning of the court, and it does not amount to “obstruction of justice”, necessitating the contempt proceedings.
“When historians in the future look back at the last six years to see how democracy has been destroyed in India even without a formal Emergency, they will particularly mark the role of the Supreme Court in this destruction, and more particularly the role of the last 4 CJIs,” said Bhushan’s second tweet on June 27.
In the last hearing, Bhushan’s lawyer Dushyant Dave had said that the two tweets were not against the institution. “They are against the judges in their personal capacity regarding their conduct. They are not malicious and do not obstruct administration of justice,” said Dave.
