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Contempt of Court in Prashant Bhushan's tweets: First Thoughts


I fail to understand how the two tweets were not scandalous to the court. What else is contempt of the court if not attributing the 'destruction of democracy' to the 'last four CJIs' with a plain face in a microblogging site that reaches millions of people in seconds? A litigant is certainly entitled to criticize the court for a judgment or a series of judgements but to attribute the entire destruction of the political system to the Cheif Justices-en masse on Twitter, in my little understanding of the law, is clearly not criticism.



I am yet to read the entire judgment but it partly says that there was summer vacation of the SC when the CJI was riding the bike and hence the court was not kept in lockdown as alleged in the tweet. If this is the case, then the tweet is an absolutely scandalous lie. Most of the Twitter users would not go to check if the SC was in summer vacation. They read it and move on. Believing that the entire judiciary is corrupt.
How will it not be contempt then? What shall be the definition of 'contempt'? Or there should be not contempt law at all? Even that can be an acceptable position but there should be a strong backing for this. That is, you need to justify while considering any kind of verbal attack, the Courts shall have only recourse to the restrictions in Art. 19(2) and not under special contempt provisions i.e. Art.s 129, 215 or 142 in the Constitutions.


Certainly, an advocate shall dissent against bad judgments and bad judicial procedures. As a matter of fact, I too am concerned of the judicial developments over the years especially the CJI Gogoi's post-retirement RS appointment and the way SC dealt with the sexual harassment complaint. I even adore to some extent, the role of Prashant Bhushan for his contribution to Indian courts.
My issue is with the mode and presentation of dissent. You post a picture of CJI sitting on a standing bike on a microblogging site, relate it with the ruling party(to the general public, this suggests that the SC belongs to BJP ) and say that courts are in lockdown for three months because of him when in fact they are not. Bhushan himself appeared in several matters. You do not give context that you meant partial lockdown and later clarify it in the affidavit. Twitter users will not read the 60-page affidavit. The judicial system has gone down in their eyes. That's the definition of contempt.


I strongly disagree with the argument that 'if two tweets scandalize the court, the court is not worth it.' The entire legal system works on the premise of 'pen is mightier than the sword'. The value of the written word is unquestionable in a fully functioning judicial system.


A lot of legal scholars have criticized the judgment and for strong reasons. I shall not act God and say they are all politically motivated. I shall analyze the judgment along with ' the Contempt of Court Act, 1971' and write a more nuanced position on the issue. Till then, keep reading.

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