Prashant Bhushan seeks copy of petition on Suo Motu contempt

Activist-advocate Prashant Bhushan on Thursday filed yet another application for putting further evidence in a Suo Motu criminal contempt proceedings for his tweets.

The top court has already reserved its judgement in the matter on Wednesday.

In a fresh application, Bhushan said the top court issued notice to him on July 22, acting Suo Motu on a petition filed by advocate Mehak Maheshwari with regard to his tweet on June 29 about the CJI sitting on a bike. However, the copy of the petition was not served upon him, he claimed, adding, "This was in violation of of Rule 6(2) of Rules to Regulate Proceedings for Contempt of the Supreme Court, 1975".

Maheshwari's petition was converted as a Suo Motu criminal contempt petition.

The second tweet on role of four CJIs in destruction of democracy posted on June 27 constituted a separate cause of action, which required separate proceedings as per Vijay Kurle judgement, Bhushan's plea stated.

He asked the court to supply him a copy of the petition by Maheshwari and allow him to lead evidence if it was not satisfied with his preliminary reply. He also said the matter related to the proceedings for second tweet against him should be placed before the CJI for allocation of a bench.