'Either way Prashant Bhushan loses': BJP's Malviya reacts to Supreme Court's 1 rupee fine

The Supreme court on Monday, August 31, pronounced its quantum of sentence in the Prashant Bhushan contempt of court case by imposing a fine of Re. 1, failing which he would be barred from practising for 3 years and face a jail term of 3 months.

Reacting to this BJP's IT cell head Amit Malviya said it was smart of the Apex court to impose a Rs.1 fine on Bhushan and maintained that either way it is a loss for Bhushan. He further questioned if Bhushan will pay the fine and admit to his offence or be more honourable.

'Hobson's choice!'

Taking to twitter the BJP leader wrote, "Smart of Supreme Court to impose a 1 rupee fine on Prashant Bhushan, failing which he would be barred from practising for 3 years and face jail term of 3 months... Either way Bhushan loses. Will he pay the fine and admit to his offence or be more honourable? Hobson's choice!"

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SC verdict on Prashant Bhushan case

The Supreme Court on Monday directed Advocate Prashant Bhushan to pay a fine of ₹1 after he was found guilty of contempt of court for two tweets made by him in the recent past.  The Supreme Court 3-judge bench pronounced its verdict after hearing arguments from all sides and reserving the verdict on the quantum of punishment that can be awarded to Bhushan last week.

Bhushan, who could’ve been sentenced to 6 months in prison or upto ₹2000 in fine has been let off with merely a token fine of ₹1 with the Supreme Court stating that failure to pay it would result in three months in prison and three-year disbarment from practising in the Supreme Court. 

The bench also criticised Bhushan’s actions during the pendency of the contempt case against him stating that he had tried to interfere with the ongoing judicial process by releasing his statements in the press even before they were filed before the top court. This is not the first time that the Supreme Court has pulled up Bhushan for making press statements on sub-judice matters. 

The fine, though symbolic in nature, puts on record the fact that Bhushan, a practising lawyer, was adjudged guilty of contempt of court by the highest court in the country and consequently punished for it. This, despite multiple former Supreme Court judges speaking out in favour of Bhushan after the Supreme Court had initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against him for his two tweets criticising the incumbent and former Chief Justices. 

READ | 'Don’t make Prashant Bhushan a martyr': Rajeev Dhavan tells SC in contempt of court case

READ | Prashant Bhushan's choice: 3 months jail & 3 years SC disbarment, or Rs 1 fine & his pride