[Breaking] SC Holds Prashant Bhushan Guilty Of Contempt For Tweets Against Judiciary; Will Hear Him On Sentence [Read Judgment]

A bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, B R Gavai and Krishna Murari had reserved judgment in the case on August 5 after elaborately hearing Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave for Bhushan.

Dave submitted that Bhushan was airing only bona fide criticism against the judiciary without any malice. Dave also submitted that there were several shortcomings in the functioning of the judiciary, which warranted Bhushan's criticism.

'Why Only Certain Judges Get Politically Sensitive Matters?' : Dave Raises Points Of Criticism Against SC In Prashant Bhushan Contempt Case

Bhushan filed a detailed reply affidavit to the contempt notice, stating that expression of bona fide opinion about the Court cannot amount to contempt.

As regards his tweet about Chief Justice of India, S A Bobde, seated on a Harley Davidson motorcycle, Bhushan said in the affidavit that his comment was to underline his angusih at the non-physical functioning of the Supreme Court for the last more than three months, "as a result of which fundamental rights of citizens, such as those in detention, those destitute and poor, and others facing serious and urgent grievances were not being addressed or taken up for redressal".

As regards the tweet about the role of SC in the destruction of democracy and the role of last 4 CJIs in that, Bhushan says that it was his "bonafide impression" about them and it is his considered opinion that SC allowed the destruction of democracy and such expression of opinion however "outspoken, disagreeable or unpalatable" can't constitute contempt.