Attorney General turns down contempt case against journalist Rajdeep Sardesai

Attorney General KK Venugopal's office had received a request to begin contempt of court proceedings against Sardesai for his comments on the apex court ruling which found senior advocate Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt in August.

The petitioner had reportedly cited a number of tweets by the veteran journalist on the day the court fined Bhushan Re. 1 for his social media posts on the judiciary and the Chief Justice. 

"Breaking: Rs 1 token fine imposed by SC on @pbhushan1 in contempt case.. if he doesn’t pay it, then 3 months jail sentence! Clearly, court looking to wriggle out of an embarrassment of its own making," Sardesai had said in one of his tweets.

"More on @pbhushan1 case: FYI: Sec 67 of IPC stipulates - if fine < Rs. 50/- ,imprisonment can’t exceed 2 months. SC has given 3 months.
2. SC has no authority to debar practice - 5 Judge Bench ruling of SC in VC Misra’s case. Why can’t SC just apologise and be done with it!" another tweet by the journalist read.

Turning down the request to prosecute Sardesai, the attorney general said, "Trifling remarks and mere passing criticism though perhaps distasteful are unlikely to tarnish the image of the institution."

Last month, Venugopal had also declined permission to an advocate to file a contempt petition against actor Swara Bhasker for her comments on the Supreme Court's verdict in connection with the Babri Masjid and Ayodhya land dispute case.