SC sentences man for contempt of court

New Delhi, July 17 (UNI) The Supreme Court has sentenced a person to two months imprisonment found guilty of using derogatory and contemptuous language against the Supreme Court and High court judges.

A bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and D K Jain, while sentencing Appu Banik in a judgement observed "There can be no quarrel with the proposition that anyone who intends to tarnish the image of judiciary should not be allowed to go unpunished. By attacking the reputation of judges the ultimate victim is the institution. The day the consumers of justice lose faith in the institution, that would be the darkest day for mankind. The importance of judiciary needs no reiteration." The court also found the apology tendered by the contemenor as not genuine because he wanted to justify his statement against Supreme Court judges as well as Guahati High court judges.

The court also noticed" The Right to criticize an opinion of a court to take issue with it upon its conclusion as to a legal proposition or question its conception of the facts, so long as such criticism are made in goodwill and are ordinarily in decent and respectful language and are not designed to wilfully or maliciously misrepresent the position of court or tend to bring it into disrespect or lessen the respect due to the authority to which a court is entitled can not be questioned." The court concluded by observing " Judiciary is the bedrock and handmaid of democracy. If people lose faith in justice imparted by a court of law, the entire democratic setup would crumble down.' UNI