The Supreme Court Bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari will today deliver its verdict on the sentencing of lawyer Prashant Bhushan in the contempt case against him. The top court had reserved its verdict after hearing the arguments from Bhushan’s lawyer Rajeev Dhavan and Attorney General KK Venugopal at length on 25 August.
Justice Mishra, who’s retiring this week, had repeatedly advised Bhushan to apologise and had even taken a break for 30 minutes for the lawyer to reconsider his statement. He had said, “Tell us, what is wrong in using the word apology? What is wrong in seeking apology? Will that be reflection of guilt? Apology is a magical word, which can heal many things. I am talking generally and not talking about Prashant.”
But, Bhushan maintained his stand on not apologising for his tweets questioning the conduct of the former Chief Justice of India. The same Bench had held Bhushan guilty of contempt on 14 August. On 20 August, the Bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari had granted him time till 24 August to tender an unconditional apology.
The Supreme Court had initiated a suo motu contempt proceeding against Bhushan for his tweet posted on 29 June against CJI SA Bobde for riding a Harley Davidson bike in Nagpur.
Bhushan had tweeted, “CJI rides a 50 Lakh motorcycle belonging to a BJP leader at Raj Bhavan Nagpur, without a mask or helmet, at a time when he keeps the SC in Lockdown mode denying citizens their fundamental right to access Justice!”
Justice Mishra had also taken note of Bhushan’s another tweet, posted in July. His tweet had read, “When historians in future look back at the last 6 years to see how democracy has been destroyed in India even without a formal Emergency, they will particularly mark the role of the Supreme Court in this destruction, & more particularly the role of the last 4 CJIs.”
LIVE UPDATES on today’s verdict and other big news will appear below:
18:47 PM: Uttar Pradesh Minister Mohsin Raza says he has tested positive for #coronavirus.
— Mohsin Raza (@Mohsinrazabjpup) August 31, 2020
17:58 PM: Former President Pranab Mukherjee passes away, son Abhijit Mukherjee tweets
With a Heavy Heart , this is to inform you that my father Shri #PranabMukherjee has just passed away inspite of the best efforts of Doctors of RR Hospital & prayers ,duas & prarthanas from people throughout India !
I thank all of You ?— Abhijit Mukherjee (@ABHIJIT_LS) August 31, 2020
16:57 PM: Tweets were not intended to disrespect SC, CJI, says activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan at press conference. (PTI)
16:14 PM: Rajasthan: Congress MLA Ramesh Meena, two BJP MLAs Hameer Singh Bhayal and Chandrabhan Singh Aakya test positive for #coronavirus. (PTI)
15:43 PM: Five labourers were killed and 11 injured when a passenger vehicle in #UttarPradesh rammed into a truck in Bahraich district on Monday. All the labourers had returned to their homes during the national #lockdown and were going back to work, police said. (IANS)
14:51 PM: Prashant Bhushan order is out : SC says if it doesn’t take cognizance of his conduct it will give a wrong message to lawyers & litigants. “However, by showing magnanimity, instead of imposing any severe punishment, we are sentencing the contemnor with a nominal fine of Rs1”
14:46 PM: #Marathi film producer Akshay Bardapurkar has approached #Maharashtra Chief Minister #UddhavThackeray and Minister for Medical Education, and Culture in the state Amit Deshmukh to support Marathi filmmakers. (IANS)
13:54 PM: S. Padmavati, #India’s first female #cardiologist, has passed away due to #Covid19 at the age of 103 after battling the disease for 11 days.(IANS)
13:02 PM: Former President #PranabMukherjee’s health deteriorated on Monday and he is in a septic shock due to lung infection, the Army Research and Referral Hospital said. He has been hospitalized for the past 21 days and been critical following a brain surgery. (IANS)
12:21 PM: Supreme Court sentences #PrashantBhushan with a fine of Rupees One to be deposited with Registry. Bench observed that Bhushuan further brought disrepute to the court by giving wide publicity to his statements before they were considered by the Court. (Live Law)
11:47 AM: #SupremeCourt dismisses Mallya review plea against 2017 conviction in contempt case. (IANS)
11:31 AM: On night of August 29/30, Chinese troops violated previous consensus arrived at during military and diplomatic engagements: Army. (PTI)
11:04 AM: #Patna police have registered an FIR against #RJD MLC Reet Lal Yadav for allegedly organising a march in the city’s Danapur area, an official said. Yadav was released from Beur jail on Saturday and he was part of march along with hundreds of supporters. (IANS)
10:43 AM: Adani Group says it has reached agreement to acquire 74 pc stake in Mumbai airport. (PTI)
10:33 AM: A SP worker, who escaped from #Covid ward of a hospital in #Bareilly, allegedly jumped to his death from an overbridge. SHO, Bhojipura police station, Manoj Tyagi said Raman Jauhari, 40, had escaped from hospital on Saturday evening & his body was found under overbridge on Sunday. (IANS)
09:49 AM: Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was admitted for post-COVID care, discharged from AIIMS Delhi: Sources. (PTI)
09:13 AM: Greetings on Onam. This is a unique festival, which celebrates harmony. It is also an occasion to express gratitude to our hardworking farmers. May everyone be blessed with joy and best health: PM Narendra Modi
Greetings on Onam. This is a unique festival, which celebrates harmony. It is also an occasion to express gratitude to our hardworking farmers. May everyone be blessed with joy and best health. pic.twitter.com/4pjpGRKk6Q
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 31, 2020