The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its order on the sentence of senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan in connection with a contempt of court case over his tweets accusing former Chief Justices of India of corruption. A bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Arun Mishra, reserved the order after hearing the arguments on the sentencing of Bhushan in the suo motu criminal contempt case.
Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for Bhushan, sought permission to read out the supplementary statement by Bhushan during the hearing. To this, Justice Mishra pointed out what was the point of reading it when the court has already read it. Attorney General K K Venugopal said that several sitting and retired judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts (former) have commented upon corruption in the higher judiciary.
Venugopal further said that these statements were perhaps only to tell the court about the facts and ask for reforms. "It may be a fit case to forgive him. The apex court may consider and may give him a warning and let him (Bhushan) go," Venugopal suggested.
Bhushan was earlier this month held guilty of contempt of court by the Supreme Court for two of his tweets, the first one posted on June 29, related to his comment/post on a picture of CJI Bobde on a high-end bike. In his second tweet, Bhushan expressed his opinion on the role of last four CJIs amid the state of affairs in the country. Earlier, the Supreme court also deferred the hearing on another contempt of court case against Bhushan and asked the CJI to place before an "appropriate" bench questions arising out of the matter.
No apology, says Bhushan
Ahead of the Supreme Court’s hearing on Tuesday, Bhushan again refused to apologise and told the apex court that his “contemptuous” remarks were meant to arrest the court’s drift from its role as protector of people’s rights. Refusing to apologise, Bhushan said the tweets were expressions of his belief as well as bona fide opinions, which at best could amount to constructive criticism meant to convey to the court not to deviate from its sterling record.
“If I retract a statement before this court that I otherwise believe to be true or offer an insincere apology, that in my eyes would amount to contempt of my conscience and of an institution that I hold in highest esteem,” he said, living up to his August 20 promise to the SC that there would be no substantial change in the tone, tenor and content of his unapologetic statement made that day.
In a 435-word statement filed through advocate Kamini Jaiswal, Bhushan said, “Today, in these troubling times, the hopes of the people of India vest in this court to ensure the rule of law and the Constitution and not an untrammelled rule of the executive. This casts a duty, especially for an officer of this court like myself, to speak up when I believe 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.” In his earlier remarks, Bhushan had said that in the last six years, democracy was put on the path of destruction and the CJIs would be remembered by historians for their role in it.
