A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra has pronounced its verdict on punishment for Public Interest Lawyer and Activist Prashant Bhushan in the contempt of court case. Bhushan is charged with a fine of Rs.1 to be paid till Sep 15, failing that imprisonment of three months and debarment from practicing for three years.
He thanked people for supporting and encouraging him to stand firm via twitter, “My Statement on my Contempt order today: I am grateful for the support of countless people: activists, lawyers, judges and fellow citizens who encouraged me to stand firm. I am gratified that it seems to have given strength to many people to stand up &speak out against injustice.”
Bhushan accepted the verdict and fine money paid by his lawyer Rajiv Dhavan. He tweeted, “My lawyer & senior colleague Rajiv Dhavan contributed 1 Re immediately after the contempt judgment today which I gratefully accepted.”
In his statement attached to his tweet, he said, “My tweets were not intended in any way to disrespect the Supreme Court or the judiciary as a whole, but were merely meant to express my anguish, at what I felt about me versus the Hon’ble judges, much less about me vs the Supreme Court. When the Supreme Court of India wins, every Indian wins.”
The top court found it “painful” to read Bhushan’s statements and justifications in the last hearing held on August 25. Justice Arun Mishra said, “This is not the way a senior lawyer like Bhushan, with over 30 years of experience, should behave.”
On August 14, the senior advocate was held guilty of contempt of court. In one of his tweets, Bhushan made a statement about the destruction of democracy and the role of the last four chief justices of India and the Supreme Court in this destruction. In another tweet, he made a remark about Chief Justice SA Bobde riding a 50 lakh bike without wearing a mask or helmet during the pandemic.
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