Published 21:38 IST, August 20th 2020
Prashant Bhushan case: SC reserves order, hearing on August 25 if 'apology rendered'
In the ongoing advocate Prashant Bhushan contempt case, Supreme Court's three-judge bench on Thursday reserved its order, while hearing his plea on deferring
In the ongoing advocate Prashant Bhushan contempt case, Supreme Court's three-judge bench on Thursday reserved its order, while hearing Bhushan's plea seeking deferment of sentence hearing. The bench comprising of Justices Arun Mishra, B.R Gavai and Krishna Murari directed Bhushan to render an unconditional apology for his submitted statement by 24 August, if he desires to do so. The Court pronounced that the matter will be next heard on 25 August, if Bhushan apologises.
Prashant Bhushan contempt case hearing on Aug 25
Bhushan seeking a deferment on his sentencing said, “I do not ask for mercy, I do not appeal to magnanimity. I am here, therefore, to cheerfully submit to any penalty that can lawfully be inflicted upon me for what the Court has determined to be an offence, and what appears to me to be the highest duty of a citizen,” in his statement.
He added that he was dismayed with the fact that the Court has arrived at the conclusion of holding him guilty without providing any evidence of his motives. He also stated that he did not believe his tweets could 'destabilize the very foundation of this important pillar of the Indian democracy'. While the bench did not defer the hearing on the sentencing, it assured Bhushan that no punishment awarded to him will be enforced until his review petition is considered and decided upon.
SC holds Bhushan guilty
On 14 August, the SC had held Bhushan guilty of contempt of court for posting tweets to malign the image of the judiciary. Maintaining that Bhushan's tweet commenting on CJI SA Bobde's photo on a motorcycle in Nagpur and alleging the 'SC is under lockdown' was factually incorrect. It also said that the comments on the CJI to hint that he is keeping the SC in lockdown was malicious and has a tendency to 'shake the confidence' of the public at large in the judiciary. The Supreme Court will pass his sentence on August 21.
Observing on Bhushan's second tweet alleging the SC and the previous four CJI's role in the 'destruction of Indian democracy in the past 6 years', the SC said that the criticism is not against a particular judge but the institution of the Supreme Court and the institution of the CJI. Slamming the SC's ruling, prominent personalities, retired SC judges, senior lawyers, former bureaucrats, politicians, and human rights organisation have criticised the top court’s order against Bhushan. In response, bar councils of Maharashtra and Goa, unanimously passed a resolution to support the Supreme Court ruling.
Updated 21:38 IST, August 20th 2020