Updated: August 31, 2020 12:54:41 pm
On August 14, the court had found Bhushan guilty of the tweets made on June 29 and 29.
Lead attorney Prashant Bhushan, who was found guilty of criminal contempt for two of his tweets, he was released Monday with a token Re 1 fine by the Supreme Court.
The court, made up of judges Arun Mishra, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari, ordered the lawyer to deposit the amount before September 15, otherwise, he will be sentenced to a three-month jail term and disqualification from practicing law. for three years.
“Freedom of expression cannot be restricted, but the rights of others must be respected,” the court observed, PTI reported.
On August 14, the court had found Bhushan guilty for the tweets made on June 27 and 29.
During the discussions, Bhushan told the court that the “two tweets represented” his “authentic beliefs” and that he did not want to apologize for the same. He also responded negatively when asked if he wanted to reconsider his statement.
However, the court gave him until August 24 “to present unconditional apologies, if he so wishes.”
Attorney General KK Venugopal urged the court not to punish Bhushan, saying that he had done a great job in the area of public interest litigation.
Bhushan stood his ground and, in a supplemental statement on August 24, said the tweets represent his beliefs and that apologizing for them “would be disingenuous.”
The bank met again on August 25 to consider the “effect of the supplementary statement.”
Reserving his trial that day, the court expressed its anguish at Bhushan’s criticism of the “sitting and retired” judges.
The court said that while the criticisms are welcome, they should not “attribute motives to the judges,” since they cannot go to the press to defend themselves and “can only speak through sentences.”
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