One of India's most prominent lawyers faces a Monday deadline to apologize to the Supreme Court or risk jail in a case testing the judiciary's openness to criticism and sparking a debate on freedom of speech in the world's largest democracy.
Motorists drive along a street in New Delhi. File photo: AFP
Prashant Bhushan, 63, was found guilty of criminal contempt for attempting "to scandalize the entire institution" with Twitter posts depicting the chief justice on a motorcycle while the court's work was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and criticizing previous top judges.
The top court on Thursday ordered Bhushan, who has championed public interest litigation, to issue an "unconditional apology" by Monday. He faces up to six months in jail or a fine of 2,000 rupees ($27) or both.
"Any apology would be insincere," Bhushan told Reuters, declining to comment further as the matter is before the court.
He told the court in a statement on Thursday that he would "cheerfully submit to any penalty" over the two June tweets, which he said "represented my bonafide beliefs, the expression of which must be permissible in any democracy." If Bhushan apologises, the court has said it would hold a hearing on Tuesday. It was not clear when or how the court would respond if he does not apologize. Regardless of the outcome, Bhushan's case is putting the Supreme Court on trial, testing how much judges may be openly criticized.
Newspaper headline: Indian lawyer convicted over tweets faces deadline