The Supreme Court on Monday imposed a token fine of Re 1 on lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan as punishment in connection with the contempt of court case against him.
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Lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan, who was held guilty of contempt for his tweets criticising Chief Justice of India S A Bobde and the Supreme Court, has been fined Re 1 by the top court.
If he doesn’t pay the fine by September 15, he can either face jail for three months or a ban from practicing for three years.
“Freedom of speech cannot be curtailed,” said the Supreme Court while handing down the sentence, referring to “sane advice” from Attorney General KK Venugopal to the court and to Prashant Bhushan.
Prashant Bhushan has said he will take a “collective decision” on whether to pay the fine or confront the other options.
The Supreme Court, which had asked for an unconditional apology from the lawyer, noted, “We gave several opportunities and encouragement to (Prashant Bhushan) to express regret. He not only gave wide publicity to the second statement but also gave various interviews to press.”
The court was apparently referring to Prashant Bhushan’s statement refusing to retract his comments or apologise, saying he considered it the discharge of his “highest duty” and apologizing would be contempt of his conscience and the court. Mr Bhushan also said in the statement that open criticism was necessary to “safeguard the democracy and its values.”
The statement “was to influence independent Judicial function,” the Supreme Court said, adding that while freedom of expression was important, rights of others should also be respected.