Taking suo motu cognisance of ink throwing at Sahara chief Subrata Roy on Tuesday, the Supreme Court slapped a notice on lawyer Manoj Sharma asking him to show cause why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him.
A Constitution Bench of Justices R.M. Lodha, A.K. Patnaik, S.J. Mukhopadhaya, Dipak Misra and Ibrahim Kalifulla issued the notice after hearing Attorney-General G.E. Vahanvati, who said the action of the lawyer, who hails from Gwalior, was a contempt of court. His views were endorsed by senior counsel Rajeev Dhavan and Arvind Datar.
The Bench said: “The ink throwing incident [which happened when Mr. Roy was being brought to the court] prima facie indicates obstruction in the administration of justice which amounts to contempt of court.” It sought the response of the lawyer in three weeks and posted the matter for further hearing before the regular Bench hearing the Sahara case.
When Justice Lodha asked the AG whether the lawyer was suffering from any mental illness, Mr. Vahanvati said: “Mr. Sharma had positioned himself close to where Mr. Roy was to enter [the court] so that he could throw ink at him. There was nothing to suggest that he was of unsound mind.”
