Prashant Bhushan on Monday was sentenced to pay a fine of Re 1 for his two tweets that were held contemptuous by the Supreme Court and the advocate-activist told the media that he will be paying the fine.
Addressing the media at Delhi’s Press Club, Prashant thanked all those who supported him and said he did not mean to disrespect the Supreme Court but only wanted to express his anguish at what he felt was a “deviation from its sterling past record.”
“This issue was never about me versus the Honourable Judges, much less about me vs the Supreme Court. When the Supreme Court of India wins, every Indian wins. Every Indian wants a strong and independent judiciary. Obviously if the courts get weakened, it weakens the republic and harms every citizen,” he said, addressing the media.
He went on to thank those who had supported him during the case, including former judges and citizens.
“They strengthen my hope that this trial drew the country’s attention to the cause of freedom of speech and judicial accountability and reforms. What is very heartening is that this has become a watershed moment for freedom of speech and seems to have encouraged many people to speak up against injustices in our society,” Bhushan said, extending his thanks to his lawyers Dushyant Dave and Rajeev Dhavan.
Earlier, Prashant Bhushan took to Twitter and said that advocate Rajiv Dhawan, who was representing him, contributed Re 1 soon after the contempt judgement came out. Bhushan shared pictures and said that he gracefully accepts the amount.
"My lawyer & senior colleague Rajiv Dhavan contributed 1 Re immediately after the contempt judgement today which I gratefully accepted," the tweet read.
My lawyer & senior colleague Rajiv Dhavan contributed 1 Re immediately after the contempt judgement today which I gratefully accepted pic.twitter.com/vVXmzPe4ss
— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) August 31, 2020
The Supreme Court on Monday sentenced Prashant Bhushan to pay the fine by September 15, failing which he would have to spend three months in jail and be debarred from practicing for three years.
The senior Prashant Bhushan was held guilty of criminal contempt on August 14 over two tweets that he made against the judiciary, one on June 27 and the other on June 29. One of the tweets was about Chief Justice of India SA Bobde sitting on a Harley-Davidson in Nagpur.
The senior advocate had submitted two statements in the Supreme Court, where he said that he would not apologise for his tweets. He was given time by the court and asked to consider offering an unconditional apology. Bhushan, however, refused to apologise saying that the two tweets represented his bonafide beliefs and he would instead ‘cheerfully’ accept any penalty the court would give.
During the hearing, Attorney General KK Venugopal had asked the court not to punish Bhushan and let him go by asking him not to repeat the act again. His lawyer Rajiv Dhawan too had asked the Supreme Court to recall its verdict and not impose any sentence. He had urged the court to close the case that would also bring an end to the controversy that was created.