‘History will judge the court’: Kapil Sibal on Prashant Bhushan contempt case

Congress leader Kapil Sibal said on Saturday “contempt power being used as a sledgehammer”, in the context of the case involving lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan which is being heard by the Supreme Court.

The top court had on August 14 held Bhushan guilty of contempt of court for two tweets — the first, on June 27, where he was critical of the top court and the role of the last four chief justices, and, the second, on June 29, where he criticised the current CJI. The three-judge bench had said the tweets cannot be said to be a fair criticism of the functioning of the judiciary made in the public interest.

“Prashant Bhushan Contempt power being used as a sledgehammer Why are Courts helpless when institutions that need to protect the constitution and the laws show “ open contempt “ for both ? Larger issues are at stake History will judge the Court for having let us down,” Sibal, who is also a senior lawyer, tweeted.

Before Sibal, the Congress had on Thursday said the “law has to be applied in an even-handed, fair and balanced manner” in the context of the contempt case. Congress’ spokesperson and senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the concerns raised by those after the judgment are certainly not in any manner false or frivolous.

“They cannot be dismissed off hand and deserve a lot of careful thinking because they include former judges of that very court, they include precedence and they include the basic spirit of the Supreme Court that its chest is larger than any chest in India and its shoulders being wider than any shoulder in India,” Singhvi had said.

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted two days to Bhushan to reconsider his “defiant statement” refusing to apologise for his contemptuous tweets against the judiciary. Bhushan told a bench, headed by Justice Arun Mishra, that he would consult his lawyers and think over the top court’s suggestion.