The Madras High Court on Monday closed suo motu contempt of court proceedings it had initiated last month against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national secretary H. Raja, after he tendered an unconditional apology for having “accidentally uttered certain words” against the court during the Vinayaka Chaturthi celebrations on September 15.
A Division Bench of Justices C.T. Selvam and M. Nirmal Kumar gave a quietus to the issue after the contemnor appeared before the court. He also filed an affidavit stating that he had great respect for the judiciary and that he had never uttered a single word against the institution in his 40 years of public life but for the recent “aberration”.
The two-page affidavit read: “I went very emotional when I was arguing with the police personnel [and] I accidentally uttered certain words. I submit that the utterance of the words which is said to have given rise to the [contempt] petition is not an intentional one but was uttered in an extremely agitated state of mind.”
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‘Realised mistake later’
Mr. Raja claimed that he realised his mistake only when he saw the video of the incident. He said the utterances were not intentional or deliberate and offered an unconditional apology. He prayed the court to record the apology and drop further action.
Explaining the circumstances that led to his using “scandalous” Tamil words to insinuate that he did not care a hoot about the High Court, Mr. Raja said the incident had occurred when he had gone to Meiyapuram village in Pudukottai district to participate in the Vinayaka Chaturthi celebrations.
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“On my arrival, I was informed that the police had refused to permit the procession of the Vinayaka idol at the instance of a church located nearby and the Inspector of Police was playing a partisan role,” he said.
When the procession was about to commence, the police prevented them [the participants] from going forward, saying they should not proceed in a particular direction.
“When I enquired with the police [about] the reason for this, the officer referred to a High Court order. Since I honestly felt that we were not being allowed to exercise our religious rights for some collateral and malicious reasons, I questioned the honesty of the police officials, who were selective in implementing the orders of the court,” he said.
It was during the course of the argument that he said he cared a damn about the High Court, and a video clip of his remarks was circulated on social media.
Taking serious note of the video, the Division Bench had initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against him on September 17.
‘Majesty of institution’
Passing a detailed interim order on that day, the Bench said, “We judges are but cogwheels in the administration of justice till we have done our time and wane away. It is the majesty of this institution, the honourable superior court and courts below, which is paramount, and it is this that we seek to uphold.
“The judiciary is held in high esteem by all right-thinking people. It holds its head high by virtue of its numerous decisions, both of old and of new, and has held aloft the flag of justice. Any attempt at creating a dent in this most revered pillar of our democratic system could lead to promotion of fascism, naxalism and all that is opposed to democracy.”
However, after perusing the affidavit filed by Mr. Raja on Monday, the judges appreciated the right counsel provided to him.
“We all make mistakes. It is better to accept the mistakes and apologise. To hide our mistakes is the problem,” Mr. Justice Selvam said before closing the case.