Attorney General K K Venugopal declines to give consent to initiate contempt against Rajdeep Sardesai for tweets against SC

Attorney General K K Venugopal on Thursday said that the reputation of the Supreme Court has been built assiduously for over 70 years and trifling remarks and passing criticism, though perhaps distasteful, are unlikely to tarnish the image of the institution.

The A-G made the observation while declining to grant consent for initiating contempt proceedings against journalist Rajdeep Sardesai.

Advocate Omprakash Parihar made a request to the Attorney General to give his consent, as mandated under the Contempt of Courts Act, for initiating proceedings against Sardesai for his tweets against the Supreme Court.

"I have given careful consideration to the tweets. I find that the statements made by Sardesai are not of so serious a nature as to undermine the majesty of the Supreme Court or lower its stature in the minds of the public," he said.

The lawyer had sought consent from the A-G on behalf of petitioner Astha Khurana who claimed Sardesai had willingly disrespected the Supreme Court and attempted to defame the institution through a series of five tweets.

Under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, consent from the Attorney General or Solicitor General was required to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against anyone.

Earlier, both the A-G and the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had declined to grant their nod for the initiation of contempt proceedings against actor Swara Bhasker for her comments against the Supreme Court.