Attorney General says no to contempt against Swara Bhaskar

New Delhi, Aug 23: Attorney General of India has rejected request to file contempt case against actor Swara Bhaskar for her comments on Ayodhya order.

"The statement was the "perception of the speaker" on the judgment of the Supreme Court and "does not offer any comment on the Supreme Court itself or say anything that would scandalise or tend to scandalise... the authority of the Supreme Court", Attorney General K K Venugopal said in a statement.

"In my opinion, this statement does not constitute criminal contempt," the Attorney General said.

K K Venugopal's consent was sought to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against Bollywood actress Swara Bhaskar for her alleged "derogatory and scandalous" statements against the Supreme Court on its verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case of Ayodhya.

The plea has alleged that Bhaskar made these statements at a panel discussion on February 1, 2020, organised by 'Mumbai Collective'.

It claimed that Bhaskar had made "derogatory and scandalous" statements against the courts in the country and mentioned the Ayodhya case judgement.

The consent of either the Attorney General or the Solicitor General is necessary under section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act 1971, for initiating contempt proceedings against a person.

A five-judge constitution bench of the apex court had on November 9 last year delivered a unanimous verdict paving the way for construction of Ram Temple at the disputed site at Ayodhya and had directed the Centre to allot a five-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a mosque.