Solicitor General Tushar Mehta declines consent for contempt plea against actor Swara Bhasker

After Attorney General K K Venugopal, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on Wednesday also declined his consent for initiation of contempt proceedings against actor Swara Bhasker for her comments against the Supreme Court.

He said the request was "misconceived" as a similar plea was already rejected by the Attorney General on August 21.

The request for consent was made by Anuj Saxena, an advocate on behalf of his client Usha Shetty, who wanted to file a contempt petition against Swara for alleged "derogatory and scandalous" comments by her in a programme in Mumbai on February 1.

The actor has on reportedly said: "We are living in a country where the Supreme Court of our country states that demolition of Babri Masjid was unlawful and in the same judgment, rewards the same people who brought down the mosque".

Venugopal had then said: "The comment is not an attack on the institution...does not constitute criminal contempt".

With regard to her comment: "We are in a situation where our courts are not sure whether they believe in the Constitution or not", the A-G had said that t is a vague statement and not related to any particular court. "Something which is so general that no one would take any serious note of this statement".

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