The Supreme Court fine of Re 1 against activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan in the contempt case for his post against the judiciary.
A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra asked Bhushan to give the fine by September 15. And if failing he will jailed for three months and debarment from law practice for three years.
“My lawyer and senior colleague Rajiv Dhavan contributed 1 Re immediately after the contempt judgement today which I gratefully accepted,” Bhushan said.
”I will respectfully pay the fine as I would have done in case of any other punishment that the court would have given me,” Bhushan said.
Justice Arun Mishra said, “If we do not take cognizance of such conduct it will give a wrong message to the lawyers and litigants throughout the country. However, we are showing magnanimity, instead of imposing any severe punishment. Freedom of expression is there but rights of others should also be respected.”
Meanwhile as per report, the top court on 14 August held Bhushan guilty of contempt for his tweets. The court had reserved its order on sentencing while granting time till 24 August to Bhushan to submit an unconditional apology. Bhushan had refused to submit an unconditional apology, saying that an insincere apology would amount to contempt of his conscience.
