YOUR HONOUR! PLEASE HOLD!
It is unfortunate that Mr.Prashant Bhushan has been held guilty of contempt of court by the Supreme Court for his tweets criticizing the functioning of the Judiciary. Outdated provisions of criminal contempt laws in India must not be used to punish individuals who criticize the Judiciary. An independent judiciary is of primal importance to any society, however, in a democracy, they would inevitably be subjected to comments and complaints which could at times be offensive in nature. But as the highest seat of dispensing justice and as being regarded as the paragon of wisdom and sagacity the courts can and should tolerate criticisms.
The point of argument could be that if the comments directly affect the reputation of individual judges, they can take recourse to civil remedies like any other citizen of the country. Outdated provisions of criminal contempt laws especially Section 2(c)(i) of the Contempt of Courts Act that defines criminal contempt as any act or publication which scandalizes or tends to scandalize, or lowers the authority of the courts. The words of the act tend to be so ambiguous in terms of its interpretation that it may lead to different degrees of expositions by the different judges at the helm. Moreover, such arbitrary rulings often limit the freedom of expression and opinion guaranteed by the constitution of India under Article 19(1)(a) which says that all citizens have the right to freedom of speech and expression. Freedom of Speech and expression means the right to express one's own convictions and opinions freely by words of mouth, writing, printing, pictures, or any other mode. This freedom of expression and the concomitant right to criticize includes a fair and robust criticism of the Judiciary, This cannot amount to contempt of the court or lowering the dignity of court in any manner.
Indian contempt laws were based on United Kingdom jurisprudence. The UK has itself struck down its own contempt laws and said that making scandalizing the court an offense is unconstitutional while its India which has a rich tradition of liberal democracy upholding these outdated values. Through this act of punishing individuals for criticizing the CJI Bobde the Supreme Court has not only let itself down but it has also let down the constitutional values of this country. We must remember that to criticize a judge fairly is not a crime. Also, the top court of the country would set a wrong precedent whereby any frivolous comment made by anyone or any just criticism done by a spirited citizen could be punished for "lowering the authority of the courts".
There have been umpteen occasions when the Supreme Court of India has shown the way to the country by having a large-hearted, broad, and a pragmatic view in its interpretation of the various provisions of the Constitution of India, upholding and protecting the democratic rights of its citizens and blocking any attempts by any institution/entity to trample over the sacrosanct prerogative of any person. The Supreme Court of India has an illustrious history and a monumental body of work and service which it has given to the country. If it thinks that this great stature is going to be affected by a couple of unpleasant tweets then the Supreme Court is not taking a well-rounded view of its own standing.