Does not mean I accept the judgment: Prashant Bhushan while depositing draft for Re 1 fine imposed for Contempt of Court

Does not mean I accept the judgment: Prashant Bhushan while depositing draft for Re 1 fine imposed for Contempt of Court

On Monday Advocate Prashant Bhushan deposited a rupee token fine imposed by the Supreme Court in the contempt case on his two tweets in the Supreme Court. Before entering the Supreme Court registry, Bhushan addressed the media outside the court premises. He said that he received contributions from many corners of the country to pay the fine, and such a contribution would be made a “true fund” to provide legal aid to those who have been jailed by the state for expressing unanimous opinion.

The state is using all means to calm the discontent. ‘Satya Nidhi’ will be used to protect personal liberty to those who face persecution of the state. “He also expressed concern over the arrest of JNU student Umar Khalid by the Delhi Police last night. Bhushan clarified that the payment of the fine does not mean that they have accepted the decision of the Supreme Court and a review petition against the verdict is being filed today.

He added that paying the fine does not mean that I accept the decision of the Supreme Court. I am filing a review petition in the Supreme Court today. He stated,

“This is not to say that I accept the Judgment. We are filing a review petition. Two days earlier I have filed a writ petition for the right of an appeal in the criminal conviction before a larger bench.“

On August 31, a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra sentenced him to fine in the contempt case. The bench had said that in the event of default of depositing the fine by September 15, Bhushan would have to undergo simple imprisonment for three months and a stay on practice in the Supreme Court for three years.

The court said that this not only gave him a chance to pardon, but also “directly and indirectly”, tried to persuade the accused to express his regret. This was ignored by the accused and he widely publicized his statements and gave media interviews, which further brought down the dignity of the court. Given that Bhushan’s act is “very serious”, If we do not take cognizance of such conduct, it will give a wrong message to lawyers and litigants across the country. However, instead of imposing any severe punishment, we are sentencing the accused with a nominal fine of Rs 1.

On August 25, a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra on two tweets of Bhushan in contempt case the order on sentence was reserved, as he refused to apologize.

By Priya Kumari