Supreme Court fines Prashant Bhushan Re 1 in contempt case

New Delhi, Aug 31: Advocate Prashant Bhushan was on Monday let off with a fine of Re 1 by the Supreme Court as he was found guilty of criminal contempt for two of his tweets.

The bench, comprising Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari, directed the lawyer to deposit the amount by September 15, failing which he will attract a three-month jail term and debarment from law practice for three years.

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On August 14, the bench had held Bhushan guilty over the tweets made on June 29. It heard arguments for sentencing on August 20 and reserved its judgement on August 25.

Bhushan had submitted a stated to the court that the "two tweets represented" his "bonafide beliefs" and that he did not want to apologise for the same. He also answered in the negative when asked if he wished to reconsider his statement.

However, the court gave him time till August 24 "to submit unconditional apology, if he so desires".

The bench met again on August 25 to consider the "effect of the supplementary statement". Reserving its judgement that day, the bench expressed its anguish at Bhushan's criticism of "sitting and retired" judges.