On Saturday, Lawyer Prashant Bhushan approached the Apex Court praying that an additional legal remedy should be provided in those cases where people are convicted by the Top Court in original criminal contempt cases.
Original criminal contempt cases are those which are heard directly by the Apex Court in the first instance. In such cases, if a person is convicted, he or she is left with no further remedy as the SC is the highest Court in the country.
Prashant Bhushan has appealed that in such a case, the convicted person should be afforded the right to an intra-Court appeal, i.e. a larger bench of the SC, different from the bench which convicted the concerned person, should hear a plea against such conviction.
The plea said that “The right to appeal against conviction in original criminal cases is a substantive right under Article 21 and flows from principles of natural justice. The absence of such a right thus violates (right to life under) Article 21".
Moreover, contempt proceedings are one wherein the injured party is the Supreme Court itself and it acts as the prosecutor, the witness and the judge, thereby raising fear of inherent bias. Thus, there is a need for an intra-court appeal, the plea said.
If an intra-Court appeal can't be allowed, then as an alternative, review pleas filed against orders of conviction by Apex Court in original criminal contempt cases would be heard in open court by a different bench, Bhushan prayed.
The Top Court had recently held Bhushan guilty of criminal contempt for his tweets criticising the SC and CJI SA Bobde.
On Aug 31, the Court imposed a token fine of Rs 1 as punishment for the same.
Another contempt case, initiated by the Supreme Court in 2009 for his remarks that past Chief Justices of India were corrupt, is also pending before the Top Court.
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