He called the contempt for judicial jurisdiction “very dangerous” and said it should be abolished.
“Every citizen in a democracy, those who are familiar with the workings of the judicial system and the Supreme Court, should be able to speak freely, but unfortunately that has also been treated in contempt of court for scandals,” he said.
“In this, the judge acts as the prosecuting prosecutor and as the judge,” Bhushan told a webinar, ‘Freedom of Speech and the Indian Judiciary,’ organized by the South Asian Foreign Correspondents Club.
“It is a very dangerous jurisdiction in which judges act for their own cause and that is why in all countries this power to sanction has been abolished. It is only maintained in a few countries like India,” he said.
The high court had imposed a symbolic fine of Re 1 on Bhushan for his tweets against the judiciary. He asked him to deposit the fine before September 15, otherwise, he will be sentenced to prison for three months and disqualification from the practice of law for three years.
He said that the power of contempt of court is sometimes abused or misused by the judiciary in an attempt to stifle free speech or free discussion about the judiciary.
“I am not saying that vile or scandalous and defamatory accusations are not being made against the judges. There are. But they are dismissed for what they are. People understand that these are defamatory and baseless accusations. Respect for the judiciary is not it relies on the court’s ability to repress such criticism, even if it is sometimes libelous and unfair, “Bhushan said.
The lawyer said that contempt of court should be abolished and that is why together with the former Minister of the Union Arun shourie and veteran journalist N Ram presented a plea challenging the constitutional validity of a legal provision dealing with criminal contempt.
“Initially, the matter was brought before Judge DY Chandrachud, but then it was taken away and sent before Judge Arun Mishra (retired Wednesday) whose views on this contempt are well known and had previously also accused me of scandalizing and contempt of the court just because he had told former CJI judge JS Khehar, Dipak Misra and to him that they should not hear a case for conflict of interest, “he said.
Bhushan said he is hopeful that this focus on the business of scandalizing the court will lead to a reform of the law and abolishing this part of criminal contempt, as it is an unreasonable restriction on freedom of expression.
Renowned author Arundhati roy He also spoke on the subject and said that it is a shame that we have to discuss something as primitive as the right to free speech in India 2020.
“Without a doubt, this is the most fundamental block of a functioning democracy,” he said.
Bhushan had said on Monday that he would present the symbolic Re 1 fine imposed by the Supreme Court in the contempt case for his tweets against the judiciary, but also indicated that he would file a plea of review against the order.
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