‘Warn Bhushan and close the contempt case’: AG KK Venugopal to SC
Venugopal said that Bhushan has expressed regret in the 2009 contempt case initiated against him for his remarks that past CJIs were corrupt.
KK Venugopal, Attorney-General (AG) of India, urged the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday to let off lawyer Prashant Bhushan with a warning in the contempt of court case initiated against the activist- lawyer for his tweets criticising the apex court and Chief Justice of India (CJI), SA Bobde.
Venugopal said that Bhushan has expressed regret in the 2009 contempt case initiated against him for his remarks that past CJIs were corrupt.
“Perhaps if he expresses regret in this case as well, then Your Lordships should forgive him. I don’t think the court should go to the extent of punishing him. He should withdraw the allegations and the court should drop the proceedings after warning him not to repeat this,” Venugopal said.
The SC bench, headed by Justice Arun Mishra, pointed out that Bhushan has declined to apologise and has also filed statements before the apex court sticking to his stance.
“He says he is not ready to apologise. We have him time to think over and express regret. So what should we do now?” asked Justice Mishra, who is heading the three-judge SC bench.
“I think this is one case where Your Lordships should take a compassionate view and forgive him. It will be greatly appreciated at the Bar. He has done a lot of good for the public and the institution,” the A-G said.
The bench pointed out that the A-G himself had filed a contempt of court case against Bhushan for a remark that he had misled the court in a case.
“I withdrew that case,” said A-G.
“Yes, but only after he expressed regret,” said Justice BR Gavai, who is part of the bench.
A-G maintained that Bhushan should express regret and the court should close the case.
“That will be a fitting end to this case,” he said.
The bench took a break for lunch at 1:15 pm and will reassemble at 2 pm, when Bhushan’s counsel is expected to make submissions.