AG declines initiation of contempt proceedings against Bhushan
New Delhi, Nov 29: Attorney General KK Venugopal has declined consent for initiation of criminal contempt proceedings against Prashant Bhushan for his tweets in which he was critical of Chief Justice of India (CJI) S A Bobde being provided a special helicopter by the Madhya Pradesh government, saying the activist-lawyer later expressed regret.
On October 21, Bhushan had said the CJI availed the special helicopter during his visit to Kanha national park while "an important case of disqualification of defecting MLAs of MP (Madhya Pradesh) is pending before him. Survival of MP govt depends on this case".
However, Bhushan on November 4 had regretted the error in his earlier tweet and tweeted: "Elections were held yesterday to seats of defecting Cong MLAs in MP who were made ministers in the Shivraj Govt. Survival of Shivraj govt will depend on their re-election, not on decision of case in CJIs court challenging their ministership. I regret this error in my tweet below."
Regret error on tweet on CJI says Prashant Bhushan
The
consent
of
the
topmost
law
officer
was
sought
by
one
advocate
Sunil
Singh
to
initiate
contempt
proceedings
against
Bhushan
for
his
October
21
tweet
saying
that
the
activist-lawyer
connected
"the
personal
life
of
CJI"
with
a
pending
case
before
him.
Though
Venugopal
termed
Bhushan''s
earlier
tweet
about
the
CJI
as
"wholly
unwarranted,
improper,
devoid
of
legal
basis
and
prima
facie
contumacious",
he
declined
the
consent
considering
the
regret
expressed
in
his
later
tweet.
"I am of the opinion that the imputations contained in three tweets to the effect that the Chief Justice of India committed an act of impropriety in accepting facilities of the state of Madhya Pradesh during his visit to Kanha National Park while a case pertaining to the disqualification of certain members of the legislative assembly of MP was pending before him were wholly unwarranted, improper , devoid of legal basis and prima facie contumacious for following reasons," Venugopal said in his response to the lawyer.
He said firstly the CJI is one of the highest constitutional functionaries in the country and is entitled to receive protocol as befits the stature of his office and the state guests are entitled to be extended appropriate security.
The top law officer said he was initially of the mind to grant the consent to initiate proceedings for criminal contempt.
"However, I must bring to your attention subsequent developments ... he has expressed regret for the error made in his earlier tweet on October 21. He has stated publicly that it was incorrect to state that the fate of the government of Madhya Pradesh depended on the case pending before the CJI...
"In
these
circumstances,
I
do
not
think
that
it
would
be
in
public
interest
to
give
consent
for
proceedings
on
the
basis
of
the
original
tweet
in
view
of
the
subsequent
tweet
expressing
regret.
I
accordingly
decline
consent,"
Venugopal
said,
The
Attorney
General
said
the
region
CJI
visited
has
been
a
Maoist
affected
region
and
that
is
why
he
was
given
the
helicopter
facility.
It is significant to note that on November 4, a bench headed by the CJI disposed of a plea that had raised the issue of pendency of disqualification proceedings against some Congress MLAs who had joined the BJP and were appointed as ministers in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh.
The
top
court,
on
August
31,
had
imposed
a
token
fine
of
one
rupee
against
Bhushan
as
punishment
in
the
contempt
case
against
him.
Bhushan
was
earlier
convicted
for
two
tweets
against
the
judiciary.