NEW DELHI: The
Supreme Court on Monday stayed the
Kerala high court's decision to initiate suo motu contempt proceedings against a senior IPS officer for naming two of its judges in his complaint to the
central vigilance commission (
CVC) while seeking probe against prosecutors and investigators for not properly briefing courts in high profile corruption cases.
The high court on March 20 asked DGP Jacob Thomas, former director of vigilance and anti-corruption bureau, to appear before it to respond on the contempt charge. Challenging the HC's decision, senior advocate Dushyant Dave and lawyer Haris Beeran contended that the officer had not made any remarks against the judges and had sought probe against officers who were pursuing corruption cases against politicians and bureaucrats.
After going through his complaint, a bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said the decision of the HC was prima facie wrong as there was no allegation against the judge and naming the judges could not amount to contempt. "He did not say anything against the judges. He said that prosecutors and investigators are not properly briefing the court and that the HC could not be taken for a ride," the bench said. "We (judiciary) cannot be so touchy," it added.
