The Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa passed a resolution on Wednesday supporting the Supreme Court’s judgement against Prashant Bhushan, holding him in contempt for his tweets against Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde.
The council, which represents 1,75,000 lawyers in Maharashtra and Goa, said, “It is unfortunate that when political ends of lawyers are not served by a decision of the court, they vilify the court by making scandalising remarks. The Supreme Court of India as well as the judges are subject to both scurrilous language, malicious attacks and scandalising remarks.”
It said while legitimate criticism of both judgments and the functioning of the institution have always existed, when the system miscalculated and actuated by malice, the authority of the court is undermined.
‘Must protect dignity’
The resolution, which has been signed by chairman Subhash Ghatge, said, “If the judiciary is to perform its duties and functions effectively, it is essential to protect the dignity and authority of the courts. The foundation of the judiciary is the confidence of the people in its ability to deliver justice.” According to the resolution, actions of institutional disruptors through name calling and usage of phrases such as ‘Supreme Court has destroyed democracy’ and ‘the Supreme Court is killing the Constitution’ have the tendency to destroy the faith of the public in the judicial system.
The resolution also said, “We are in total agreement with steps taken by the justice delivery system of India. We unanimously state that the efforts of pressurising Hon’ble judges, by making reckless statements are in total derogation of the Constitution of India.”
‘Trend to malign SC’
It said the trend to malign Supreme Court is dangerous and must be dealt with iron hand. “Anyone who maligns the Supreme Court of India must be dealt as per law. We repose confidence in the entire judicial system and we condemn the efforts to pressurise the judiciary,” the resolution said. The council has forwarded the resolution to the Chief Justice of India, Chief Justice of Bombay High Court and Chairman of Bar Council of India.
On August 14, the Supreme Court had held Mr. Bhushan guilty of criminal contempt for posting tweets against the judiciary. These included a comment on a photograph of CJI Bobde sitting on a Harley Davidson, and an allegation that the last four CJIs played a role in destroying democracy.
