What is wrong in apologising, is this word so bad, asks Supreme Court, reserves order in Prashant Bhushan contempt case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday (August 25) reserved the verdict on the quantum of sentence to be given to advocate Prashant Bhushan, convicted for contempt of court for his tweets against the judiciary.

Hearing the matter, the top court said, "What is wrong in apologising, is this word so bad", on Prashant Bhushan's refusal to apologise for tweets accusing former Chief Justices of India of corruption.

A bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai, and Krishna Murari also granted 30 minutes to activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan to 'think over' his stand of not expressing regret. The top court granted this opportunity to Bhushan after Attorney General K K Venugopal sought forgiveness for the senior advocate.

"He (Bhushan) should withdraw all statements and express regret," said the top law officer when the bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra sought his views on the 'defiant' statement of Bhushan.

Bhushan refused to offer an apology to the Supreme Court for his two tweets against the judiciary, saying what he expressed represented his bona fide belief which he continued to hold.

The bench asked, "Bhushan says the Supreme Court has collapsed, is it not objectionable." The court can speak through orders only and even in his affidavit, Bhushan has made disparaging remarks against the judiciary, the bench said.

The bench observed that when Bhushan does not think he did anything wrong then what is the point of giving him advice to not repeating it, adding "A Person should be realize the mistake, we gave Bhushan time but he says he will not apologize." 

On August 20, the top court had granted time till August 24 to Bhushan to reconsider his 'defiant statement' refusing to apologise and tender 'unconditional apology' for contemptuous tweets against the judiciary and rejected his submission that quantum of punishment is decided by another bench. 

Earlier this month, Bhushan was held guilty of contempt of court by the Supreme Court for two of his tweets, the first one posted on June 29, related to his comment/post on a picture of CJI Bobde on a high-end bike.

In his second tweet, Bhushan expressed his opinion on the role of the last four CJIs amid the state of affairs in the country.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme court also deferred the hearing on another contempt of court case against Prashant Bhushan, asking the Chief Justice of India to place before an "appropriate" bench questions arising out of the matter.

(With Agency Inputs)