Venugopal said the second part of the statement is a vague statement not related to any particular court, and "something is so general that no one would take any serious note of this statement".Attorney General K K Venugopal has turned down a request for his consent to initiate criminal contempt of court proceedings against actor Swara Bhasker for allegedly making “derogatory and scandalous” statements against the Supreme Court.
The request was sought by one Advocate Anuj Saxena, who cited details of Bhasker’s alleged remarks during a panel discussion on February 1, 2020 in two paragraphs.
The first paragraph related to the Ayodhya judgment and the second to the government, police, courts and the Constitution.
In his letter to Saxena on August 21, the Attorney General said, “The Statement in the first part appears to me a factual one and is a perception of a speaker. The comment refers to the Judgment of Supreme Court and is not an attack on the institution. This does not offer any comment on the Supreme Court itself or say anything that would scandalise or lower the authority of the Supreme Court.”
Venugopal added, “The Second Statement is a vague statement not related to any particular Court and something which is so general that no one would take any serious note of this statement…I do not think that this is a case where the offence of scandalising of Court or lowering the authority of the Court would arise.”
“I, therefore, decline consent to initiate contempt proceedings against Swara Bhaskar,” the Attorney General added.
Under Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1071, the consent of either the Attorney General or the Solicitor General is necessary to initiate contempt proceedings against a person.
Saxena has now sought the permission of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.
The letter said the request was made on behalf of one Usha Shetty and that the “petitioner…respectfully differs with the reasons given” by the Attorney General while declining the request.