Prashant Bhushan Fined Re 1 by Supreme Court in Contempt Case
Supreme Court has sentenced lawyer Prashant Bhushan to a fine of one rupee. The top court has said the fine needs to be deposited by September 15.
New Delhi, August 31: Supreme Court sentenced lawyer Prashant Bhushan to a fine of one rupee. The top court mentioned the fine needs to be deposited by September 15. Failure to pay the fine amount in time would result in three months in jail and he would be barred from practice for three years.
During the hearing, Justice Arun Mishra said, "Judges are not supposed to go to press. Therefore it is not permissible to rely on what is said by judges outside the court." Prashant Bhushan Contempt Case: Supreme Court to Pronounce Quantum of Sentence Today.
Here's what the Supreme Court said today:
The court had on August 14 held Bhushan guilty of criminal contempt of court and stated that the allegations levelled in the tweets against the court and CJI are malicious in nature and have the tendency to scandalise the court. Bhushan’s tweets were based on distorted facts and have the effect of destabilising the foundation of the judiciary, the court had added.
The bench on August 20 had asked Bhushan to reconsider his "defiant statement" and tender "unconditional apology" for the contemptuous tweets till August 24. On August 25, SC had given 30 minutes to Bhushan to "think over" on withdrawing his statements made in the court and said he made "disparaging remarks against the institution and the judges". Bhushan, however, had refused to apologise to the top court for his two tweets.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 31, 2020 12:29 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).