SC ruling on Prashant Bhushan a ‘sign of deterioration of free speech’, says CHRI

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative India executive board said in a statement that the ruling sent a ‘chilling message’

File photo of Prashant Bhushan.

The Supreme Court’s August 14 order finding lawyer Prashant Bhushan guilty of criminal contempt over tweets about the apex court were a “sign of the current deterioration in the state of free speech in the country”, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) said.

The CHRI India executive board, which is headed by former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah and includes former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B. Lokur and retired Delhi High Court Chief Justice A.P. Shah, said in a statement on Sunday that the ruling sent a “chilling message”.

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Lapsing into contempt

No matter how inappropriate or uncharitable the tweets may have been, the CHRI executive board said the court “in passing the judgment, has made it clear that ‘the majesty of the law and of the administration of justice’ is above the fundamental freedom of expression, sending a chilling message about the cost of criticism.”

The group said it supported calls by civil society demanding the repeal of the laws of criminal defamation and contempt .

Reacting to the development, Congress leader Ashwani Kumar said in a tweet on Monday: “The judgment in Prashant Bhushan’s case has achieved a result contrary to its purpose, diminishes the Court’s moral authority and sends a message of kingliness in a republic based on the sovereignty of ideas espoused by free men.”