Senior advocate and activist Prashant Bhushan has decided to pay the Re 1 fine imposed on him by the Supreme Court in regards to the contempt case on Monday.
He said that he will ‘respectfully’ pay the fine but also maintained that his tweets were not intended in any way to disrespect the Supreme Court or the Chief Justice of India.
“I am grateful for the support of countless people: activists, lawyers, judges and fellow citizens who encouraged me to stand firm. I am gratified that it seems to have given strength to many people to stand up and speak out against injustice,” he said in a tweet.
“My tweets were not intended to disrespect SC but were meant to express my anguish at what I felt was deviation from its sterling record. This is a watershed moment for freedom of speech and seems to have encouraged many people to speak out against injustices,” he said.
“I have had the greatest respect for the institution of the Supreme Court. I have always believed it to be the last bastion of hope, particularly for their rights, often against a powerful executive,” he said in a statement.
While pronouncing the sentence, for his two controversial tweets, the Supreme Court has slapped a fine of Re 1 to the lawyer which he has to pay till September 15 and if he fails to do so, he has to face a jail term of three months with a ban from practising as a lawyer for three years.
READ: Pay Re 1 or face 3 months imprisonment with 3-year ban: SC on Prashant Bhushan contempt case
Prashant Bhushan had tweeted a photo along with his colleague Rajiv Dhavan saying, “My lawyer and senior colleague Rajiv Dhavan contributed 1 Re immediately after the contempt judgement today which I gratefully accepted.”
The apex court had initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against Bhushan for publishing two tweets, the first tweet, which was posted on June 27 alleged that the last four Chief Justices had played a role in the “destruction of democracy” during undeclared “emergency” for last six years.
And the second tweet on June 29 allegedly said the present Chief Justice rode a stationary bike at Nagpur while keeping the apex court in lockdown and denying citizens their right to access to justice.