SC reserves contempt verdict against Prashant Bhushan over his two tweets
The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its judgement on the sentence of senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan in connection with a contempt of court case over his tweets accusing former Chief Justices of India of corruption. A bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Arun Mishra, reserved the order after hearing the arguments on the sentencing of Bhushan in the suo motu criminal contempt case.
Senior advocate Dr Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for Prashant Bhushan, sought permission to read out the supplementary statement by Bhushan during the hearing. To this, Justice Mishra pointed out what was the point of reading it when the court has already read it.
Attorney General KK Venugopal said that several sitting and retired judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts (former) have commented upon corruption in the higher judiciary.
AG Venugopal further said that these statements were perhaps only to tell the court about the facts and ask for reforms. "It may be a fit case to forgive him. The apex court may consider and may give him a warning and let him (Bhushan) go," Venugopal suggested.
Bhushan was earlier this month held guilty of contempt of court by the Supreme Court for two of his tweets, the first one posted on June 29, related to his comment/post on a picture of CJI Bobde on a high-end bike.
In his second tweet, Bhushan expressed his opinion on the role of last four CJIs amid the state of affairs in the country.
Earlier today, the Supreme court also deferred the hearing on another contempt of court case against Prashant Bhushan and asked the Chief Justice of India to place before an "appropriate" bench questions arising out of the matter.
