"Will respectfully pay the fine" Prashant Bhushan says after top court's order
Senior Advocate Prashant Bhushan held guilty by the Apex Court of his contempt for his tweets criticizing Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and the Supreme Court, has been fined Re 1 by the top court. He can face jail for three months and a ban from practicing for three years if he fails to pay the fine before September 15.
"My lawyer and senior colleague Rajiv Dhavan contributed 1 Re immediately after the contempt judgment today which I gratefully accepted," the 63-year-old tweeted.
According to an NDTV report, the lawyer after the top court's order said that he will "respectfully pay the fine" imposed on him.
The Supreme Court, which had asked for an unconditional apology from the lawyer, noted, "We gave several opportunities and encouragement to (Prashant Bhushan) to express regret. He not only gave wide publicity to the second statement but also gave various interviews to press."
The court was apparently referring to Prashant Bhushan's statement refusing to retract his comments or apologize, saying he considered it the discharge of his "highest duty" and apologizing would be contempt of his conscience and the court. Mr Bhushan had also said that open criticism was necessary to "safeguard the democracy and its values."
The statement "was to influence independent judicial function," the Supreme Court said, adding that while freedom of expression was important, rights of others should also be respected.
Mr Bhushan's counsel Rajeev Dhavan had argued that top court's order giving him time for an unconditional apology, was "an exercise in coercion". Mr Dhavan had urged the top court to show "judicial statesmanship" and not make Mr Bhushan a "martyr" by punishing him for contempt over the tweets.
In one of the tweets, Mr Bhushan had said four previous Chief Justices of India played a role in destroying democracy in India in the last six years. Another tweet reacting to a photo of Chief Justice Bobde on a Harley Davidson last month had flagged that he was without a helmet and face mask while keeping the court in lockdown and denying citizens their right to justice.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
