Prashant Bhushan Fined Re 1 For Contempt Of Court

Acitivist-Lawyer Prashant Bhushan was imposed a fine of Re 1 on Monday by the Supreme court for the criminal contempt of court case levied against him.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said that if Bhushan fails to deposit the amount by September 15, he will have to undergo imprisonment for three months and will be banned from legal practice for three years.

The SC found Bhushan guilty on August 14 for putting out tweets criticizing the top court and Chief Justice of India (CJI), S A Bobde. It added that the tweets are malicious in nature and have the tendency to scandalize the court.

"My lawyer and senior colleague Rajiv Dhavan contributed 1 Re immediately after the contempt judgement today which I gratefully accepted," Prashant Bhushan told news agency ANI.

Bhushan had posted a tweet on June 27 against the Supreme Court and another on June 29 criticizing CJI Bobde.

His first tweet: "When historians in the future look back at the last six years to see how democracy has been destroyed in India even without a formal Emergency, they will particularly mark the role of the SC in this destruction, and more particularly the role of the last four CJIs."

His second tweet: "The CJI rides a Rs 50 lakh motorcycle belonging to a BJP leader at Raj Bhavan, Nagpur, without wearing a mask or helmet, at a time when he keeps the SC on lockdown mode denying citizens their fundamental right to access justice!"

The case was first registered on July 9 and the first hearing was held on July 22. The conclusion to the case comes after almost 40 days.