The statement cited Rajdeep Sardesai’s tweets about the Supreme Court ruling in the Prashant Bhushan case.
New Delhi:
Lead journalist Rajdeep Sardesai should not be held in contempt, said the attorney general, who rejected requests to bring a case against the television news anchor over tweets that were accused of criticizing the Supreme Court.
Attorney General KK Venugopal’s office had received a request to initiate contempt proceedings against Sardesai for his comments on the Supreme Court ruling finding top lawyer Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt last month.
The petitioner had reportedly mentioned several tweets by the journalist on the day the court fined Mr. Bhushan Rs 1 for his social media posts about the judiciary and the Chief Justice.
Breaking: Rs 1 symbolic fine imposed by SC in @ pbhushan1 in case of contempt … if you don’t pay it, 3 months in jail! Clearly, the court seeks to shake off a self-created shame.
– Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) August 31, 2020
More in @ pbhushan1 case: FYI: Sec 67 of IPC stipulates – although
2. SC does not have the authority to disqualify the practice – 5 Judge Bench of SC in the case of VC Misra. Why can’t SC apologize and get this over with?– Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) August 31, 2020
Break: @ pbhushan1 found guilty of contempt by SC, sentence to be pronounced on August 20 … even though habeas corpus petitions from detainees in Kashmir remain pending for over a year! ????
– Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) August 14, 2020
In rejecting the request to prosecute Sardesai, the attorney general said: “Trivial comments and passing criticism, though perhaps in bad taste, are unlikely to tarnish the image of the institution.”
Last month, Venugopal denied permission to a lawyer to file a contempt statement against actor Swara Bhasker for his comments on the Supreme Court verdict in the Babri Masjid and Ayodhya land dispute case.
The contempt cases have sparked greater public interest after lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan was found guilty of the same charge last month which has fueled discussions about free speech and dissent. Bhushan, the court ruled, had crossed the line when commenting on the judiciary.
Mr Bhushan, in his defense, said that he considered his tweets “as an attempt to work for the betterment of the institution”, and that open criticism was necessary to safeguard democracy in India.
The attorney general, who had himself filed a contempt petition in the Supreme Court against Bhushan last year over comments on the appointment of former acting CBI Chief M Nageswara Rao, this time urged the court to ignore the veteran lawyer’s tweets. .
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