Updated: November 12, 2020 9:07:12 pm
According to the contempt of court Act 1971, contempt of court can be civil or criminal.
Attorney General KK Venugopal on Thursday consented to the initiation of criminal contempt proceedings against comedian Kunal Kamra for his tweets following the Supreme Court’s decision to grant provisional bail to television host Arnab Goswami.
Writing to a Skand Bajpai who had requested his consent, Venugopal said: “… People believe that they can boldly and unabashedly condemn the Supreme Court of India and its judges exercising what they believe to be their freedom of expression… I think it is the Now that people understand that attacking the Supreme Court of India in an unjustified and blatant manner will attract punishment under the Contempt of Courts Act of 1972. “
What is contempt of court?
According to the Law of contempt of court, 1971, contempt of court can be civil contempt or criminal contempt.
Civil contempt means willful disobedience of any judgment, decree, direction, order, injunction or other process of a court, or willful breach of a commitment made to a court.
Criminal contempt, on the other hand, is attracted by the publication (whether in word, spoken or written, or by signs, or visible representations, or otherwise) of any matter or the performance of any other act that:
(i) scandalizes or tends to scandalize, or lowers or tends to lower the authority of any court; or
(ii) harms, or interferes or tends to interfere with the due course of any judicial proceeding; or
(iii) interferes or tends to interfere or obstructs or tends to obstruct the administration of justice in any other way.
In 2006, the government introduced an amendment, which now offers “truth” as a defense as long as it is in good faith and in the public interest.
The letter from Attorney General KK Venugopal stating that, in his opinion, Kunal Kamra’s statements constituted contempt of court.
But why is AG’s consent needed to initiate contempt of court proceedings?
Subsection 1 of Section 15 (Knowledge of criminal contempt in other cases) of the Contempt of Courts Act 1971 reads: “In the case of criminal contempt, other than contempt mentioned in Section 14 (” Procedure where contempt is before the Supreme Court or a Superior Court ”), the Supreme Court or the Superior Court may act on its own initiative or at the request of (a) the General Counsel, or (b) any other person, with the written consent of the General Counsel… ”.
In August, AG Venugopal rejected an application from Anuj Saxena for his consent to initiate criminal proceedings for contempt of court against actor Swara Bhasker for allegedly making “disparaging and scandalous” statements against the Supreme Court.
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What is the penalty for contempt of court?
According to the law, contempt of court can be punished with simple imprisonment for a period that can be extended to six months, or with a fine that can be extended to two thousand rupees, or with both, provided that the accused can be released or the sentence imposed . it may be sent after an apology to the satisfaction of the court.
The Supreme Court recently found activist-defender Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt of court for two of his tweets, and imposed a token Re 1 fine on him after Bhushan refused to apologize.
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