The Supreme Court on Friday issued a contempt notice to Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut and journalist Nikhil Wagle for allegedly scandalous and derogatory social media posts against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant.
“Issue notice as to why contempt of court proceedings should not be issued against them,” said a bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi. The bench posted the matter for hearing after two weeks. It exempted Raut and Wagle from personal presence, observing that it hopes better sense prevails.
The bench called Raut and Wagle’s comments made very unfortunate. It observed that they do not understand they are being tracked. “Each one of them has come to this court and sought remedies, and the court has never been lax in hearing their pleas.”
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The notice was issued a day after the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) sought contempt proceedings against Raut and Wagle. SCBA president and senior advocate Pradeep Kumar Rai urged the court to seek their personal presence. The bench refused.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta supported the SCBA plea. “Many of them understand, and they do it deliberately. The attempt is to bring pressure on courts.”
The SCBA filed the petition through Rai under Article 129 of the Constitution and the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, and the Rules to Regulate Proceedings for Contempt of the Supreme Court, 1975. The Rules require prior consent of the Attorney General (AG) or Solicitor General.
The SCBA on Wednesday approached AG R Venkataramani for his consent, which was granted on Thursday. Venkataramani said Wagle and Raut’s posts are prima facie scandalous and intended to lower the Supreme Court and particularly the CJI’s esteem.
The petition said the scandalous comments were made after the CJI refused to meet Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday, citing separation of powers and sub judice matters related to the Election Commission of India and protests over alleged irregularities in the Special Investigation Review of the electoral rolls.
The plea said Raut also posted a video where he alleged that judges attend political programmes of the ruling party and accept dinners hosted by chief ministers. It referred to photographs of judges playing badminton with political figures in London and made allegations against the CJI and other judges.
The SCBA called Raut’s statements false. It cited a June 19 Delhi high court order making it clear that the photograph of judges playing badminton was of an event held at Thyagaraj Stadium last year and not in London.
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The petition said that the false statements were knowingly made to scandalise and diminish the authority of the Supreme Court, which amounts to contempt of court. It added that the Supreme Court’s dignity and authority are integral to the maintenance of public confidence in the administration of justice and the rule of law.
“The deliberate and intentional scandalous statements, knowing that it would lower the authority of this court, warrant strict action against the respondents in accordance with law.”
The Contempt of Courts Act defines criminal contempt as any publication that scandalises, tends to scandalise, lowers or tends to lower the authority of any court.