Prashant Bhushan refuses to apologies in SC contempt case

NEW DELHI: Advocate Prashant Bhushan on Monday refused to submit an unconditional apology to the Supreme Court and said an insincere apology would amount to contempt of his conscience.

The apex court, on Thursday, while deciding on the quantum of punishment granted Bhushan time to reconsider his statement till 24 August and to submit an unconditional apology in the suo motu contempt case. The top court on 14 August had held advocate Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt of court for his two tweets criticizing the judiciary.

The court has reserved its order on sentencing. The court had held that in case, an apology is submitted, the matter will be heard on 25 August.

Bhushan had filed a supplementary statement through his advocate Kamini Jaiswal on Monday.

He reiterated his stand and stated that as an officer of the court it was his duty to speak up when he believed that there was a deviation from the “sterling record" of the court.

“I expressed myself in good faith, not to malign the Supreme Court or any particular Chief Justice, but to offer constructive criticism so that the court can arrest any drift away from its long-standing role as a guardian of the Constitution and custodian of peoples’ rights," Bhushan said.

He added that his tweets represented his bonafide belief and therefore an apology for expression of these beliefs, conditional or unconditional, would be insincere.

In his



statement, Bhushan also said he had made bonafide statements and “pleaded truths with full details" but the apex court had not dealt with these details.

He stated that the top court is “the last bastion of hope for the protection of fundamental rights, the watchdog institutions and indeed for constitutional democracy itself. It has rightly been called the most powerful court in the democratic world, and often an exemplar for courts across the globe."

On the last date of hearing, senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for Bhushan, urged deferment of the hearing on sentence as he sought to file a review petition on the 14 August order of the top court holding Bhushan in contempt.

The court said it didn’t feel inclined to grant him time as the order wouldn’t be complete if the sentencing is deferred. However, the court assured Bhushan that if any punishment is given for contempt, it will be inflicted only after the review petition is decided.

The 14 August judgment was passed by a bench comprising Justice Arun Mishra, Justice B R Gavai and Justice Krishna Murari. Two tweets brought Bhushan, a critic of the government and a lawyer known for taking up liberal causes, under fire from the court. Bhushan's first tweet pertained to a picture of Chief Justice SA Bobde in which he is seen sitting on a high-end motorcycle. In the second tweet, Bhushan gave an opinion on the role of last four chief justices of India in the context of the state of affairs in the country.