The Supreme Court today i.e., February 6, 2019, issued notice to Advocate Prashant Bhushan on
contempt petitions filed by Attorney General K.K. Venugopal and the Central Government for his tweets stating that the government, through Attorney General, had misled the court by submitting that the appointment of M. Nageshwar Rao as interim CBI Director had the approval of High Powered Selection Committee.
Advocate Bhushan, who was present in the court at the time, accepted notice and assured the court that he will file a reply. A Bench comprising
Justices Arun Mishra and
Navin Sinha while hearing the matter agreed to consider the larger issue of advocates making comments on a sub-judice matter.
While Solicitor General
Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, sought for punishment against Bhushan. AG Venugopal took a different stand and said that he is not pressing for imposition of any punishment, but the court should decide on the extent to which a lawyer can make public statements in a sub-judice matter. To which, the Bench said that “We are not averse to media reporting on court proceedings but the lawyers involved in a case should resist from making public statement in sub-judice matter.” "We are on the larger issue. The time has come to settle the issue. It has been noticed that sometimes the lawyers can't control the temptation to go to media. Bar has been protecting the Institution but now it is different,” said Justice Mishra. The AG filed the contempt petition submitting that Mr. Bhushan deliberately intended to cast aspersions on his integrity and honesty in placing the minutes of the meeting before the apex court during the February 1, 2019, hearing. This was followed by another contempt petition filed by the Centre, contending that "such an act by a counsel of making false and irresponsible allegations on a public platform, rather than raising his grievances, if any, before this Hon'ble Court, is grossly contumacious and warrants punishment by this Court."
Decoding Prashant Bhushan's Controversial Tweets
Legal Insiders
Jan 05, 2021
Mriganc Mishra Intern Aquilas Legal Solutio
(
Editor: Ekta Joshi
)
9 Shares
Prasant Bhushan had posted two tweets, one on the Supreme Court on June 27, 2020 and the second one on CJI Bobde on June 29, 2020. He was served notice by the apex court on July 22, 2020.The top court had on August 5, 2020 reserved its verdict in the matter after Bhushan defended his two alleged contemptuous tweets saying they were against the judges regarding their conduct in their personal capacity and they did not obstruct administration of justice. The first tweet said: “When...
Prashant Bhushan moves SC, seeks hearing on his plea before review petitions are considered.
Legal Insiders
Dec 18, 2020
Dev Kumar Patel
(
Editor: Ekta Joshi
)
9 Shares
In his petition seeking review of the order holding him guilty for contempt of court for his two derogatory tweets against the judiciary, Bhushan has contended that it "suffers from multiple errors apparent on the face of the record of both law and of fact".Activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan on 14th December 2020 moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction that his two pleas, in which he has sought review of the orders convicting and sentencing him for contempt of court for his tweets against the...
Facebook Comments