SC spares Manoj Tiwari from contempt
BUT REBUKES HIM FOR HIS ‘MISPLACED BRAVADO’ AND BEING ‘A REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE’
In a relief to Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari, the Supreme Court on Thursday spared him off a punitive action in a contempt case but rebuked him for his “misplaced bravado” and being “a rebel without a cause” for breaking lock of a sealed building.
The court also expressed “extreme pain” over Tiwari’s action and observed that the “misplaced bravado” and “chest thumping” by him in making frivolous allegations against the court-mandated monitoring committee on sealing was a clear indication of how “low he can stoop” and also displayed his “total lack of respect for any rule of law”.
A bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur said there was no doubt that Tiwari, also a BJP MP, had on September 16 broken or tampered with the seal put by veterinary services department of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) on a building.
The court was pained by his behaviour as he is an elected representative and “hopefully a responsible citizen of Delhi”, the bench said.
“The misplaced bravado of Manoj Tiwari and his chest thumping immediately after the hearing on October 3, 2018 and making serious but frivolous allegations against the monitoring committee appointed by this court is a clear indication of how low Manoj Tiwari can stoop and displays his total lack of respect for any rule of law,” the bench said.
“It seems that he (Tiwari) is, in a sense, a rebel without a cause,” said the bench, also comprising justices S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta.
The top court also termed as “rather shocking” the response given by Tiwari’s counsel that the lawmaker’s action was driven by the “mob pressure”.
Immediately after the court verdict, both BJP and the AAP engaged in a war of words with Tiwari claiming that the court had noted his concerns over the “pick and choose” policy in the ongoing sealing drive in the national capital and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal the BJP should end its “stunt and theatrics”.