Activist- lawyer Prashant Bhushan refused to apologise to the Supreme Court on Monday. On August 20, the SC had granted Bhushan time till August 24 to apologise for his tweets against the judiciary.
Bhushan said, in a statement submitted to the apex court, that his tweets represented his bona fide beliefs which he still continues to hold.
“An apology has to be sincerely made. If I retract a statement that I otherwise believe to be true or offer an insincere apology that in my eyes would amount to contempt of my conscience and of an institution (Supreme Court) that I hold in the highest esteem,” the statement said. “An apology for expression of beliefs, conditional or unconditional, would be insincere,” Bhushan said.
Bhushan said that as an officer of apex court it is his duty to speak up when he believes there is a deviation from the court’s sterling record.
“Therefore I expressed myself in good faith, not to malign the Supreme Court or any particular Chief Justice, but to offer constructive criticism so that the court can arrest any drift away from its long-standing role as a guardian of the Constitution and custodian of peoples’ rights,” he said.
Bhushan added “My tweets represented this bona fide belief that I continue to hold. Public expression of these beliefs was I believe, in line with my higher obligations as a citizen and a loyal officer of this court.”
At the last hearing on Thursday, the court had sought an unconditional apology and gave the 63-year-old a few days to “reconsider” his statement.
“Don’t just apply legal brain here,” Justice Arun Kumar Mishra, who led the bench, had told Mr. Bhushan, commenting that he had not convicted anyone of contempt in 24 years as a judge. But freedom of speech is not absolute, Justice Mishra said, adding, “You may do hundreds of good things, but that doesn’t give you a license to do ten crimes”.
The tweet in question accused Chief Justice SA Bobde of riding a motorcycle- he was photographed on a Harley Davidson in Nagpur last month- without a helmet and face mask while keeping the court in lockdown and denying citizens the right to justice.
The other tweet was about four previous Chief Justices of India whom he accused of having a role in “destroying democracy”.
He might face simple imprisonment for six months or with a fine of up to Rs 2000 or with both as punishment.
