Supreme Court Rejects Prashant Bhushan’s Plea to Defer Hearing on Sentence in Contempt Case, Lawyer Says ‘Pained But Won’t Apologise’

"I do not ask for mercy. I do not appeal for magnanimity. I cheerfully submit to any punishment that court may impose", Bhushan said quoting Mahatma Gandhi.

New Delhi: Refusing to apologise for his tweets on Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and the Supreme Court for which he was “held guilty of contempt of court” few days ago, lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Thursday told the Court that he felt shocked and pained. “I do not ask for mercy. I do not appeal for magnanimity. I cheerfully submit to any punishment that court may impose,” Bhushan said, quoting Mahatma Gandhi.

The Court also rejected Prashant’s plea to defer the hearing on his sentence till his review petition against conviction for criminal contempt is filed and decided. “Even if we punish you, it won’t be activated, till the decision on review. We’ll be fair to you. We feel you are trying to avoid this bench,” the Court maintained.

The Court also gave the advocate two days’ time, asking him to “reconsider” his statement which he presented today. The matter is likely to be heard next on Monday.

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra told senior advocate Dushyant Dave, representing Bhushan, “We are always fair to you. We do not know whether you are fair to us.”

“I am pained to hear that I am held guilty of contempt of court. I am pained not because of would be sentencing, but I am grossly not being misunderstood. I believe that an open criticism is necessary to safeguard the democracy and its values.

“My tweets need to be seen as an attempt for working for the betterment of the institution. The tweets, I consider, were discharge of my highest duty. Apologising would also be dereliction of my duty,” Prashant Bhushan said.

The Supreme Court had initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against Bhushan for allegedly making derogatory comments against the top court on June 27 in a tweet that alleged that the last four Chief Justices had played a role in the “destruction of democracy” during undeclared “emergency” for the last six years. Another tweet on June 29 alleged that the “present Chief Justice” rode a bike in Nagpur “while keeping the apex court in lockdown and denying citizens their right to access to justice”.