The Supreme Court gave activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who has been held guilty of criminal contempt for his two derogatory tweets, two days’ time to reconsider and modify the statement he filed in court on Thursday in response to the contempt case against him.
The SC has given Bhushan time to consider a modification to his statement where he said that he will not apologise for the statement but will "cheerfully" accept whatever punishment the court announces.
In his statement that was read out in court, Prashant Bhushan submitted, “I am pained that I have been held guilty of committing contempt of the Court whose majesty I have tried to uphold -- not as a courtier or cheerleader but as a humble guard - for over three decades, at some personal and professional cost. I am pained, not because I may be punished, but because I have been grossly misunderstood.”
He went on to add that he is shocked that the court held him guilty of "malicious, scurrilous, calculated attack.”
“I am dismayed that the Court has arrived at this conclusion without providing any evidence of my motives to launch such an attack. I must confess that I am disappointed that the court did not find it necessary to serve me with a copy of the complaint on the basis of which the suo motu notice was issued, nor found it necessary to respond to the specific averments made by me in my reply affidavit or the many submissions of my counsel,” he said.
“I find it hard to believe that the Court finds my tweet "has the effect of destabilizing the very foundation of this important pillar of indian democracy.” I can only reiterate that these two tweets represented my bonafide beliefs, the expression of which must be permissible in any democracy. Indeed, public scrutiny is desirable for healthy functioning of judiciary itself,” he added in the statement.
Bhushan said he believes that open criticism of any institution is necessary in a democracy, to safeguard the constitutional order. Bhushan said his tweets were “nothing but a small attempt to discharge what I considered to be my highest duty at this juncture in the history of our republic” and that not speaking up would have been a dereliction of his duty.
“I did not tweet in a fit of absence mindedness. It would be insincere and contemptuous on my part to offer an apology for the tweets that expressed what was and continues to be my bonafide belief. Therefore, I can only humbly paraphrase what the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi had said in his trial: I do not ask for mercy. I do not appeal to magnanimity. I am here, therefore, to cheerfully submit to any penalty that can lawfully be inflicted upon me for what the Court has determined to be an offence, and what appears to me to be the highest duty of a citizen,” he concluded.
Bhushan said that if the court wishes, it can grant him time but that he is unlikely to change his statement.
“If your lordships want to give me time, I welcome. But I don't think it will serve any useful purpose and it will be a waste of time of Court. It is not very likely that I will change my statement,” Bhushan said, as per a report by Live Law.
Attorney General KK Venugopal asked the court not to punish Bhushan, but the court said that it cannot do so unless Bhushan reconsiders his statement.
A day before the scheduled hearing on the quantum of sentence, Prashant Bhushan had moved the Supreme Court seeking deferment of the proceedings till a review petition was filed and considered. The top court on August 14 had held Bhushan guilty of criminal contempt for his derogatory tweets against the judiciary saying they cannot be said to be a fair criticism of the functioning of the judiciary made in the public interest. A contemnor can be punished with simple imprisonment of up to six months or with a fine of up to Rs 2,000 or with both.
Bhushan in his application stated that he intends to file a review petition against the order of August 14 after studying it in detail and seeking appropriate legal counsel as the ramification of the said order is of grave constitutional significance, in particular on the right to free speech. Bhushan submitted the deferment of the said hearing would be in the interests of justice in view of the underlying public policy with respect to safeguarding liberty of a citizen under Article 21 till such time as his first appeal (in this case the review petition) is considered.
The top court on August 14 held that Bhushan attempted to scandalise the entire institution of the Supreme Court and said, If such an attack is not dealt with, with requisite degree of firmness, it may affect the national honour and prestige in the comity of nations. In its 108-page verdict, a bench of Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari, had said: "The tweets which are based on the distorted facts, in our considered view, amount to committing criminal contempt. In the result, we hold alleged contemnor No.1 - Mr. Prashant Bhushan guilty of having committed criminal contempt of this Court."
The top court had, however, discharged the notice issued to Twitter Inc, California, USA in the contempt case after accepting its explanation that it is only an intermediary and does not have any control on what the users post on the platform.
It had said the company has also shown its bona fides immediately after the cognizance was taken by this Court as it has suspended both the tweets.
The top court had analysed the two tweets of Bhushan posted on the micro-blogging site on June 27 on the functioning of judiciary in past six years, and on July 22 with regard to Chief Justice of India S A Bobde.
"In our considered view, it cannot be said that the tweets can be said to be a fair criticism of the functioning of the judiciary, made bona fide in the public interest," it had said.