Attorney General KK Venugopal denied his consent to file a criminal case of contempt of court against Bollywood actress Swara Bhaskar

Attorney General KK Venugopal denied his consent to file a criminal case of contempt of court against Bollywood actress Swara Bhaskar

The Bollywood actress Swara Bhaskar is accused of making derogatory and conspiratorial statements against the Supreme Court verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute case in Ayodhya . Keep in mind that to initiate a contempt of court case against any person, approval of the Attorney General or Solicitor General is required. This step is taken under Section 15 of the Contempt of Court Act, 1971.

Attorney General KK Venugopal has denied his consent to file a criminal case of contempt of court against Bollywood actress Swara Bhaskar.

Advocate Anuj Saxena sought approval from the Attorney General to initiate the case against actress Swara Bhaskar.  To this, the Attorney General said in his two-page reply on August 21 that the first part of the actress’ statement seems factual and reflects her thinking while the second part of her statement is about the Supreme Court’s decision on the Ayodhya case.  In this too, there has been no comment on the Supreme Court.  There is no conspiracy in it.  The reputation of the Supreme Court cannot be undermined by this.

The Attorney General has said that this statement does not constitute criminal conspiracy.  I do not think of the crime under which something is said by conspiring against the court.  That is why I am not in favour of filing criminal case of contempt of court.

Seeking contempt proceedings against Swara Bhaskar, petitioner Usha Shetty pointed out the statement made on February 1 at a function of ‘Mumbai Collective’.  In that statement, Swara had commented on the judiciary, which has been described in the petition as tarnishing the image of the court. Swara stated that –

“ We are living in a country where the Supreme Court of our country states that the demolition of Babri masjid was unlawfully and in the same judgment rewards the same people who brought down the mosque… We are now in a situation where are courts are not sure whether they believe in the constitution or not… What then do we do and it seems to me that as everyone has said that the path is clear to us and it has been shown to us by you all whoever of you all have been part of the protest by the students by the women and by the citizen protestors it is to resist”.

By-PRIYA KUMARI