New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved the verdict on the quantum of sentence to be given to advocate Prashant Bhushan, convicted for contempt of court for his tweets against the Chief Justice of India and the judiciary.
A bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, B.R. Gavai and Krishna Murari reserved the verdict after a detailed hearing on the matter.
Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for Bhushan, contended before the bench that the top court can say that it does not agree with Bhushan and exercise restraint while making statements in the future. Justice Mishra said, "We thank you, Dr Dhavan. Even Prashant Bhushan has shown respect in some part of his statement."
Attorney General K.K. Venugopal submitted before the bench that his suggestion would be to close the matter without punishing Bhushan.
Justice Mishra observed that for how long the system would suffer this. The bench noted that judges are condemned and their families are humiliated. "They cannot even speak," noted the bench.
The top court told Bhushan's counsel that it expects him to be impartial.
"You may have love and affection for anyone... but we want you to be fair. Don't take sides," said Justice Mishra.
Dhavan argued that the top court could say in the judgment that it did not agree with Bhushan. Dhavan also insisted that nobody can be forced to tender an apology in a contempt proceeding and added that the Harley Davidson remark made by Bhushan was hardly a criticism.
Dhavan argued that the top court could say in the judgment about the kind of code people should follow, but the idea should not be to silence Bhushan.
At one point during the hearing, Rajeev Dhavan, reminded the bench, “When Justice Mishra was in Kolkata High Court and Mamata Banerjee said the court is corrupt, Justice Bagchi wrote the judgment but Justice Mishra said as her position is that of a politician, we will not punish.”
“If Mamata Banerjee could be let off because everything she said was in public domain why can't my client,” said Dhavan, seeking pardon for Prashant Bhushan.
“Don’t make Prashant Bhushan a martyr", he said.
Earlier, Supreme Court granted another opportunity to Prashant Bhushan on Tuesday after Attorney General KK Venugopal sought forgiveness for the activist-lawyer.
"He (Bhushan) should withdraw all statements and express regret," said AG Venugopal when the Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra sought his views on the 'defiant' statement of Prashant Bhushan.
Prashant Bhushan had on Monday refused to offer an apology to the Supreme Court for his two tweets against the judiciary, saying what he expressed represented his bona fide belief which he continued to hold.
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