SC issues notice in Contempt Petition to Prashant Bhushan, finds Prima Facie Case

The SC on July 22, 2020 {IN RE PRASHANT BHUSHAN & ANR.} held that it is prima facie, of the view that the statements on Twitter made by Sh. Prashant Bhushan, Advocate, have brought the administration of justice in disrepute and are capable of undermining the dignity and authority of the Institution of Supreme Court in general and the office of the Chief Justice of India in particular, in the eyes of public at large.

The SC Bench, comprising of Justice Arun Mishra and Justice B.R. Gavai & Justice Krishna Murari further held that it takes suo motu cognizance of the tweets and suo motu register the proceedings. The Court issued notice to the Attorney General for India and to Mr. Prashant Bhushan, Advocate also, for 05/08/2020.

The following tweets were allegedly published by Mr. Prashant Bhushan on twitter:

“CJI rides a 50 Lakh motorcycle belonging to a BJP leader at Raj Bhavan Nagpur, without a mask or helmet, at a time when he keeps the SC in Lockdown mode denying citizens their fundamental right to access justice!”

“When historians in future look back at the last 6 years to see how democracy has been destroyed in India even without a formal Emergency, they will particularly mark the role of the Supreme Court in this destruction, & more particularly the role of the last 4 CJIs.”

The present petition was placed before the SC on the administrative side by the Registry, for consideration, whether it should be listed for hearing or not as permission of the Attorney General for India has not been obtained by the petitioner to file the petition. After examining the matter on administrative side, the SC directed the matter to be listed before the Court to pass appropriate orders.