New SC bench to hear 2009 contempt of court case against Prashant Bhushan

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said that since he is retiring on September 2, he will not have adequate time to address the legal questions raised by Bhushan in the matter

A separate bench of the Supreme Court will hear the 2009 contempt of court case against lawyer Prashant Bhushan for his remarks that past Chief Justices of India (CJI) were corrupt.

Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan(PTI)

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said that since he is retiring on September 2, he will not have adequate time to address the legal questions raised by Bhushan in the matter.

“Let the matter be listed before an appropriate bench on September 10 after taking directions from the Chief Justice of India SA Bobde,” said the Justice Mishra-led bench, which also comprised justices BR Gavai and Krishna Murari.

This case dates back to 2009 when Bhushan called past CJIs corrupt in an interview to Tehelka magazine.

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 over eight years after it was last heard. Bhushan refused to apologise for his statement but offered an explanation to the court.

The court on August 10 rejected Bhushan’s explanation and decided to proceed with the case and hear it in detail.

When the case was heard on August 17, the court said that certain larger legal issues need to be settled including whether allegations of corruption against judges can be made by way of public statements and the procedure to be adopted when such allegations are raised.

When the case was taken up on Tuesday, Bhushan submitted a revised list of legal issues to be considered by the court and also prayed for reference of the matter to the Constitution Bench.

“I am short of time. I am demitting office,” justice Mishra remarked.

The same Justice Mishra-led bench is slated to hear on Tuesday another contempt of court case against Bhushan for his tweets criticising the top court and the CJI. Bhushan has been held guilty in this case and the court is expected to decide on the punishment to be handed down to Bhushan.