Prashant Bhushan refuses to apologise or retract statement & tweets; affirms faith in SC

Refusing to retract his statements or apologise for his tweets, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, on Monday, filed a supplementary reply - affirming 'Supreme Court as the last bastion of hope for protection of fundamental rights'. He said that if he retracted a statement he believed to be true or offer an insincere apology, it would amount to contempt of his conscience. The Supreme Court was set to hear the matter on August 25, if Bhushan apologised. 

Prashant Bhushan case: SC reserves order, hearing on August 25 if 'apology rendered'

Bhushan: 'Won't apologise for tweets or statement'

Prashant Bhushan’s Contempt Case - Sledgehammer or Judicious?

Prashant Bhushan contempt case hearing on Aug 25

Earlier on 20 August, 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. Bhushan had refused to apologise for his tweets and was dismayed with the fact that the Court has arrived at the conclusion of holding him guilty without providing any evidence of his motives.

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. 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.

"We will be fair to you, even if you are not fair to us": SC tells Prashant Bhushan

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. It is yet to pronounce his sentence.

Sonia Gandhi to continue as Congress interim-chief till fresh AICC elections are held

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.