Prashant Bhushan contempt of court case
The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the submission of activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan that the arguments on quantum of sentence in the contempt proceedings in which he has been held guilty be heard by another top court bench. A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra gave assurance to Bhushan that no punishment will be acted upon till his review against the order convicting him in the case will be decided.
The bench also comprising Justices BR Gavi and Krishna Murari told senior advocate Dushyant Dave, representing Bhushan, that he is asking them to commit an "act of impropriety" by saying that argument on sentencing be heard by another bench.
At the outset, Dave sought deferment of hearing on the quantum of sentence in the case saying that he would be filing a review petition against the conviction order.
The hearing in the matter is going on.
Earlier on August 14, the Supreme Court had held Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt of court for his tweets.
The top court on August 5 had 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 the administration of justice.
The contempt law carries a maximum jail term of six months.
On June 27, Prashant Bhushan had accused four CJIs of "playing a role in the destruction of democracy".
On June 29, he had accused the current CJI of "riding a Rs 50 lakh bike of a BJP leader" and keeping "SC in lockdown denying citizens their fundamental right to justice".
