The Supreme Court also cleared that the 11-year-old contempt case against Prashant Bhushan will continue. The SC bench has listed the matter for hearing next Monday.
New Delhi| The Supreme Court has refused to accept the regret lawyer Prashant Bhushan had expressed in a case of contempt over his remarks in a 2009 interview with Tehelka. In this interview, he had said that eight of the previous 16 CJIs were corrupt. The top court also informed that it needed to check whether ‘corrupt Chief Justices’ remark amounts to contempt of court.
The Supreme Court also cleared that the 11-year-old contempt case against Prashant Bhushan will continue. The SC bench has listed the matter for hearing next Monday.
A bench comprising justices BR Gavai and Krishna Murari chaired by Justice Arun Mishra informed that it will hear the matter and deal with the issue of whether comment on corruption against judges per se amounted to contempt or not.
Supreme Court had made to clear to on August 4, intimating Prashant Bhushan and Tarun Tejpal, then editor of Tehelka, that it would hear the case against them if it does not accept their “explanation” or “apology” in the case.
Senior Lawyer and Prashant Bhushan’s father, Shanti Bhushan, had requested the Supreme Court to list the case after the physical hearings resume. The court, however, did not agree with the request. The top court said the contempt case against Bhushan will continue.
The SC had issued a contempt notice in 2009 o Prashant Bhushan and Tarun Tejpal for allegedly casting aspersions on some sitting and former top court judges in an interview in 2009.
On August 4, during the last hearing, the bench told senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, representing Prashant Bhushan that there was a thin line between freedom of speech and expression and the contempt of court.
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