'One can't malign judicial officers,' SC refuses relief to man sent to jail for contempt

'Just because you don't get a favourable order doesn't mean that you will malign the judicial officer,' the Court's vacation bench said

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that one cannot malign judicial officers using social media, while refusing to entertain a plea against a Madhya Pradesh High Court order, which sent a man to jail for 10 days for levelling corruption allegations on a district judge.

A vacation bench of Justice Bela M Trivedi and Prashant Kumar Mishra said that not getting a favourable order does not mean one would begin maligning a judicial officer.

The bench said the person should have thought twice before casting any aspersion on the judicial officer and there has to be a lesson for others.

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The petitioner’s counsel asked the court to show leniency in the matter as the imprisonment was excessive.

The bench, however, said, “He maligned the judicial officer. Think of the damage done to the judicial officer’s image”.

The petitioner’s counsel also cited the liberty of his client as he has been in jail since May 27.

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The bench said it was not inclined to interfere in the matter, saying that judges are “here to decide on law, not show mercy".

The top court’s order came on a plea filed by Krishna Kumar Raghuvanshi against the high court in a suo motu criminal contempt case initiated against him for making allegations of corruption against a district judge.

The proceedings were initiated against the petitioner in response to a reference made by an additional district judge under Section 15(2) of the Contempt of Courts Act. The reference was based on Raghuvanshi’s circulation of a letter maligning the court’s image through WhatsApp.