Shashwati Chowdhury
Published on: August 30, 2022 at 20:18 IST
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court dismissed the contempt case brought against Advocate Prashant Bhushan in 2009 due to his comments in an interview with Tehelka magazine that some former Chief Justices of India were corrupt. Tarun Tejpal, the editor of Tehelka, had his lawsuit dismissed as well.
A Bench comprising of Justices Indira Banerjee, Surya Kant, and MM Sundresh closed the contempt proceedings in light of Bhushan’s explanation and Tejpal’s apology.
In support of Bhushan, Senior Advocate Kamini Jaiswal stated that the defendant has provided an explanation for his statement. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal claimed on behalf of Tehelka Magazine editor Tarun Tejpal that he had apologized.
The Bench wrote in the order, “In view of the explanation/apologies made by the contemnors, we don’t deem it necessary to continue the matter.”
When it was posted alongside the contempt case brought against Bhushan in 2020 due to some of his tweets, the 2009 case that had lain dormant for a while was given new life.
The suo moto contempt case was brought as a result of a complaint from Senior Advocate Harish Salve, who claimed that Bhushan alleged that half of the previous 16 Chief Justices were corrupt in an interview. According to the complaint, Bhushan also stated in the interview that he lacked evidence to support the claims.
Salve, who served as the Amicus Curiae in the Sterlite case and filed the interlocutory application, made the complaint.
The complaint was brought before a Bench on November 6, 2009, which comprised Justice SH Kapadia and then–Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan. The Bench ordered that the matter be scheduled before a three-judge Bench, of which Justice Kapadia was not a member.
A Bench of Justices Altamas Kabir, Cyriac Joseph, and H. L. Dattu served notice on Bhushan and Tarun Tejpal, the Tehelka magazine’s editor-in-chief, on January 19, 2010.