The Supreme Court Bar Association President Dushyant Dave has said that rumours claiming that the SCBA passed a resolution to not give Justice Arun Mishra a farewell on his retirement were fake.
Dave, who made explosive arguments in favour of Prashant Bhushan in the contempt case, said in a statement, “It has been brought to my notice by some Members of the Press that a statement has been issued by the Executive Committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association on the issue of Farewell to Honble Justice Arun Mishra on his retirement next month.”
Dave, himself a senior Supreme Court advocate, added that the ‘information aforesaid is false and incorrect.’ “No such statement has been issued by the Executive Committee and In fact this matter has not been considered by the EC in any meeting. The Press release being attributed to the EC is not genuine and is strongly denied by me on behalf of the EC. I strongly condemn the same as being mischievous and an attempt to malign the SCBA,” Dave continued.
On 5 August, while appearing for Prashant Bhushan, Dave had made explosive arguments in the contempt case. He had raised the issue of widespread perception about the lack of integrity of the judiciary under certain judges including the former Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi. Dave had drawn the court’s attention to several high-profile politically sensitive judgments where the judiciary had seemingly let itself down. Referring to Gogoi, he asked what impression the former CJI had created for the judiciary by accepting a Rajya Sabha nomination and Z plus security cover after his judgments favoured the central government in several cases such as Rafale, Ayodhya and the CBI.
He had told the Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari, “You get Rajya Sabha seat and Z plus security.. What impression does it give.. Rafale judgment, Ayodhya judgment, CBI judgment. You give these judgments and have these benefits. These are all serious issues that strike at the core of the judiciary.”
The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved the judgment in the contempt case after desperately asking Bhushan to apologise, but the lawyer refused.