Bhushan files response in 2009 case
NEW DELHI: Allegations of corruption against judges do not automatically amount to contempt of court if the person making the allegations invokes truth as a defence, advocate Prashant Bhushan told the Supreme Court (SC) on Sunday in written submissions for a 2009 contempt-ofcourt case.
Truth is a valid legal defence in contempt cases as laid down by the SC in its earlier judgments and a person cannot be held guilty for contempt “per se” if he invokes truth as a defence, Bhushan said in his submissions for the case against him for calling past Chief Justices of India (CJI) corrupt in a 2009 interview to Tehelka magazine.
“When such defense (of truth) is invoked, to hold the alleged contemnor guilty of contempt, the court will have to necessarily return a finding that such defence is not in public interest and that the request for invoking such defence is not bona-fide (in good faith),” Bhushan submitted.
The submission came two days after the SC held the activist lawyer guilty of criminal contempt of court, , in another case, for two tweets, one criticising CJI SA Bobde and the other raising questions about the conduct of former CJIS and the court. The tweets were based on distorted facts and have the effect of destabilising the foundation of the Indian judiciary, the SC ruled.
In his 2009 interview, Bhushan claimed half of the past 16 CJIS were corrupt. Senior advocate Harish Salve brought this statement to the attention of the court, based on which contempt action was initiated against him in November 2009.
The case was listed by the top court on July 24. more than eight years after it was last heard. Bhushan refused to apologise for his statement but offered an explanation. A three-judge bench headed by justice Arun Mishra, on August 10, rejected Bhushan’s explanation and decided to proceed with the case and hear it in detail. The case is slated to be heard on Monday. Tarun Tejpal, then editor of Tehelka magazine, is also a contemnor in the case.
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