Supreme Court fines Bhushan Rs 1 in contempt case, orders him to pay fine by 15th

New Dihi, Ta. Monday, August 31, 2020

The apex court on Monday fined prominent lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan only Rs 1 in a contempt of court case and said he would be sentenced to three months if he did not pay the fine. Prashant Bhushan has twice been asked by the Supreme Court to apologize but Bhushan refused to do so and has been fined. The court also said that the fine would have to be paid by September 15.

Prashant Bhushan took to Twitter to criticize the functioning of the Supreme Court and the picture of the Chief Justice on his bike. Following which, the Supreme Court filed a contempt of court case against him.

He was convicted 15 days ago in the case. A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra imposed a fine of Rs 1 on Bhushan. The court also said that if we had not imposed the fine in this case, it would have sent a wrong message to the lawyers as well as others in the country.

If Prashant Bhushan refuses to pay the one rupee fine now, he could be sentenced to three months as well as banned from practicing as a lawyer for three years. Prashant Bhushan, on the other hand, said, "I will pay the fine imposed by the Supreme Court and at the same time I will file a review petition against the judgment of the Supreme Court as it is also my right."

"I have not disrespected the Supreme Court. I have full respect for this judiciary," he said. Everything I tweeted did not disrespect any institution or the Supreme Court or the Chief Justice. Now I am ready to pay the fine and at the same time I will use it as I have the right to petition for review on the issue of the conviction and the penalty decided.

Judges hope event like press conference won't happen again: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court recalled the press conference held by four judges in 2018 in the Bhushan case. "We hope that no such incident will happen in the future in which judges will have to go to the media and speak for themselves," he said.

On 12 January 2018, four senior Supreme Court judges, J.P. Chelameshwar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur, Kurien Joseph, through a press conference before the media, questioned the functioning of the then Chief Justice Deepak Mishra and the judiciary and also leveled serious allegations. Citing the incident, the apex court now said, "We hope this will not happen in the future and this will be the last case in which the judges had to go before the media."