SC Relief For Arundhati Roy In Contempt Case [Read Order]

The reopening of the Supreme Court after summer vacation meant a big relief for author and activist, Arundhati Roy, as the bench of the Chief Justice of India, J.S.Khehar and Justice D.Y.Chandrachud, today granted a stay on the criminal contempt proceedings pending against her before the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court since 2015.  The bench also granted her the leave of appeal.

The High Court had issued contempt notice to her on December 23, 2015 for expressing her critical views in the Outlook magazine on the arrest of activist-academic, and former Delhi University Professor, Saibaba, for suspected Maoist links, even though he is 90 per cent disabled.

Her plea for stay on the proceedings before the High Court was listed several times earlier, but the   Supreme Court  had declined to exempt her from personal appearance.

Today, when the matter came up for hearing, the bench sought to know whether Roy would apologise for her views, so that the case could be disposed of.  But her counsel, senior advocate, C.U.Singh, told the bench that the case raised issues of freedom of expression, and the limits of Court’s power to restrict freedom to criticize organs of the State, including the judiciary, in a democracy.  Therefore, Singh said she was not prepared to tender an apology, as the Court’s notice to her amounted to a chilling effect, to restrain such criticism.

The stay on the proceedings before the High Court, and the direction to list the matter for final hearing would mean that it would take at least three years for the Court to dispose of the case, considering the pendency of cases.

In March 2002, the Supreme court had convicted Arundhati Roy for contempt of court for her critical views on Supreme Court’s judgment in Narmada Bachao Andolan case.