Prashant Bhushan Twitter

Prashant Bhushan Beaten
Prashant Bhushan Wiki
Prashant Bhushan Twitter

The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notices to advocate Prashant Bhushan and Attorney General KK Venugopal on the suo motu criminal contempt proceedings it has initiated against the lawyer for his alleged derogatory tweets against the judiciary, PTI reported.

SC Starts Contempt Proceedings Against Prashant Bhushan, Twitter for Unspecified Tweets. A contempt case against Bhushan, pending since 2009, has also been listed to be heard on July 24.

On 29 June 2020, advocate Prashant Bhushan published a tweet about the Chief Justice of India, accompanied by a picture of CJI Bobde on a motorcycle.
Twitter has removed a tweet by left wing activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan, where he had claimed that masks are not effective in preventing the spread of Novel Coronavirus. On 10 th April, Bhushan had posted a tweet with a link to a hypothesis published on Sciencedirect on the use of facemasks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It observed that the tweets prima facie “brought administration of justice into disrepute and are capable of undermining the dignity and authority of the Supreme Court in general and the office of the Chief Justice of India in particular, in the eyes of the public at large”, Live Law reported. “We take suo motu cognizance of the aforesaid tweet also apart from the tweet quoted above [in the order] and suo motu register the proceedings,” the top court added.

The top court, which had also initiated proceedings against social media company Twitter India, directed that Twitter Inc of California be made a party in the case. Senior lawyer Sajan Poovayya, who appeared for Twitter India, said they have been impleaded incorrectly. He also stated that the tweet in question could be disabled after a court order.

A three-judge bench of Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari suggested that Twitter should itself disable Bhushan’s alleged contemptuous tweets, according to News18. “Why can’t you do it on your own?” the court asked Poovayya. “Even after we have initiated the contempt proceedings, do you want to wait for a formal order? We think we won’t pass any order and will leave it your wisdom.”

The lawyer said he will convey the court’s order to his client. “Now that the court has taken suo motu cognisance, I get what my lordships are saying,” Poovayya added. “I will convey the message.”

The top court asked Venugopal to assist in the matter and will hear the matter next on August 5.

During the hearing, Mishra pointed out the tweets posted by Bhushan on June 27 and 29. The first tweet commented about undeclared emergency and the role of Supreme Court and last four chief justices of India. The second tweet was about Chief Justice SA Bobde trying a Harley Davidson superbike in his hometown Nagpur.

The Supreme Court had pulled up Bhushan in 2013 too, when he had made “disturbing remarks” against the judges hearing the coal scam. Bhushan had wondered why the court did not take action against Goolam E Vahanvati, the attorney general in the UPA government, for allegedly lying in court. He later apologised to the court.

More recently, in March 2019, Bhushan turned down the Supreme Court’s offer to “unconditionally apologise” to the court for seeking that Justice Arun Mishra recuse himself from hearing a contempt plea against him. In February 2019, Attorney General KK Venugopal had filed a contempt petition in the Supreme Court against Bhushan for allegedly scandalising the court with his tweets on the turmoil in the Central Bureau of Investigation.

In recent months, Bhushan took up the cause of migrant workers in the Supreme Court, arguing that the government’s mishandling of the Covid-19 lockdown had created a humanitarian crisis. The judges had rebuked him for his criticism of the court. In the past, Bhushan has made statements about the treatment of activists such as Varavara Rao and Sudha Bharadwaj, who are imprisoned in the Elgar Parishad case.

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Prashant Bhushan Beaten

Mahek Maheshwari, represented by advocate Anuj Saxena, filed a petition against Bhushan and Twitter India on 2 July, requesting the court to initiate contempt proceedings for the tweet, alleging that it 'inspired a feeling of no-confidence' in the independence of the judiciary and amounted to 'scandalizing the court'.

On 21 July, the SC took suo moto cognizance of the petition and initiated contempt proceedings against both Bhushan and Twitter India for unspecified tweets published by the former on the latter’s platform. The matter was listed for hearing on 22 July.

The Court’s order of 22 July cited two tweets as the basis for the proceedings: one published on 27 June 2020, which attributed responsibility to the Supreme Court in 'destructing' India's democracy for the past six years. The other was the tweet of 29 June, which had been the subject of Maheshwari’s petition.

The bench took the prima facie view that the statements brought the administration of justice into disrepute and were capable of undermining the authority of the institutions of the Court – particularly the Chief Justice – in the eyes of the public. In this regard, it issued notice to Bhushan and to the Attorney General of India KK Venugopal, requesting the latter to assist the Court in this matter.

In response, Bhushan filed a writ petition requesting the SC to recall the contempt notice issued against him. He argued that the original petition which had led to the SC taking suo moto cognizance was defective because it had not been sanctioned by the Attorney General as required by Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 and Rule 3(c) of the Rules to Regulate Proceedings for Contempt of the Supreme Court, 1975.

On 5 August the Court heard in length arguments from Sr. Adv. Dushyant Dave, who represented Bhushan, and Sr. Adv. Sajan Poovayya, who represented Twitter India. On 14 August, the Court held Bhushan guilty of criminal contempt. The Court was slated to hear Bhushan's arguments on sentencing on 20 August.

Prashant Bhushan Wiki

On 19 August, Bhushan filed an application to defer the sentencing hearing. The Court heard Sr. Adv. Dushyant Dave and Sr. Adv. Rajeev Dhavan on 20 August on deferral and sentencing. It issued a brief order seeking Bhushan to apologise unconditionally before 24 August.

On 24 August, Prashant Bhushan filed a supplementary statement, where he noted: 'If I retract a statement before this court that I otherwise believe to be true or offer an insincere apology, that in my eyes would amount to the contempt of my conscience and of an institution that I hold in highest esteem'. On 25 August the Court heard Attorney-General K.K Venugopal and Sr. Adv. Rajeev Dhavan on the effect of this statement, and reserved its order on sentencing in the meantime.

A week later, on 31 August, the Court fined Bhushan INR 1. He is required to pay this before 15 September 2020. Further, in the event of non-compliance Bhushan would be punished with 3 months imprisonment and debarred from practising law for 3 years. Prashant Bhushan has paid the fine before the deadline. He has filed a review of this judgment.