- The court had convicted Prashant Bhushan for contempt in a tweet case against the courts and judges.
- Bhushan’s plea – “there is no option left after the decision of the Supreme Court, so take care of justice”;
The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the appeal of advocate Prashant Bhushan in the contempt case. Bhushan had applied to postpone the debate on sentencing and to have a chance to impose a review petition. Bhushan had also appealed to have the sentence heard in another bench, but the court rejected that too.
The bench of Justice Arun Mishra said that even if the sentence is pronounced, the review will not be applicable till the verdict. On the other hand, Bhushan’s lawyer said that if the punishment is deferred, the sky will not break.
Bhushan’s argument
On Wednesday, Prashant Bhushan filed a plea for mistakes in human decisions. He said that human decisions are not always infallible. Mistakes can still happen despite all attempts at a fair trial. In cases of criminal contempt, the Supreme Court acts like a trial court, and there is no alternative.
Bhushan argued that the contempt of court can further appeal to the High Court. But, there is no option left after the Supreme Court verdict. Therefore, special care should be taken that justice is available. Bhushan has said to appeal in 30 days.
What is the matter?
On August 14, the Supreme Court held Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt in a controversial tweet regarding the court and judges of the Supreme Court. A bench of justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari had said that the sentence would be debated on August 20.
These 2 tweets of Prashant Bhushan are considered contempt of court by the judges;
First tweet: June 27- “When historians look at the last 6 years of India, we find how democracy was ended in the country without Emergency. In this they (historians) will question the role of the Supreme Court, especially 4 former CJIs”.
Second tweet: June 29- “In this, senior counsel shared photo of Chief Justice SA Bobde with Harley Davidson bike. The CJI, while doing evil to Bobde, wrote that he had ordered the courts to be closed during the Corona era”.
Support for Bhushan has poured out all over social media and many lawyers have also openly supported him.