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SC held Prashant Bhushan guilty in a Contempt Case.

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Advocate Prashant Bhushan

The Supreme Court has found Advocate Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt of court for his tweets criticising Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and the judiciary posted earlier this year.

The order was passed today by a Bench of Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai, and Krishna Murari. The Court is yet to decide on the quantum of punishment. The hearing on the sentence will be held on August 20. The Court had registered the suo motu contempt case against Bhushan over two of his tweets criticising the judiciary.

Orders were reserved in the matter on August 5 after a day’s hearing, in which Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave made vociferous submissions on behalf of Bhushan.  The two tweets in question were posted in June this year.

Dave submitted that Bhushan was airing only bona fide criticism against the judiciary without any malice. Dave also submitted that there were several shortcomings in the functioning of the judiciary, which warranted Bhushan’s criticism. Bhushan filed a detailed reply affidavit to the contempt notice, stating that expression of bona fide opinion about the Court cannot amount to contempt.

The first tweet pertained to Bhushan’s commentary on a picture of Chief Justice of India SA Bobde on a high-end motorcycle, whereas in the second, Bhushan expressed his opinion on the role of last four CJIs amid the state of affairs in the country. Madhya Pradesh-based advocate Mahek Maheshwari had also filed a contempt petition against Bhushan and Twitter India on July 2 over the tweet pertaining to CJI Bobde on a motorcycle.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan

In his reply to the Court by a 142-page affidavit, Bhushan stated that his tweets are justified, and could not be considered contempt of court.

He said that his tweet on CJI Bobde appearing in a picture on a motorcycle without a helmet or a mask was a mere expression of his anguish with an intention to highlight the incongruity of the situation. As far as the tweet on the role of the last four CJIs is concerned, Bhushan submitted that he was expressing his bona fide opinion about the state of affairs. 

As regards his tweet about Chief Justice of India, S A Bobde, seated on a Harley Davidson motorcycle, Bhushan said in the affidavit that his comment was to underline his angusih at the non-physical functioning of the Supreme Court for the last more than three months, “as a result of which fundamental rights of citizens, such as those in detention, those destitute and poor, and others facing serious and urgent grievances were not being addressed or taken up for redressal“.

Along with the reply, Bhushan had also moved the Supreme Court challenging the action of its Secretary-General to list the contempt petition filed against him on the judicial side, without the consent of the Attorney General.

Read Also: PM’s push to Atmanirbhar Bharat from Red Fort

Moreover, this plea had also questioned the sudden listing of an 11-year-old contempt matter pending against Bhushan in light of recent developments. On August 10, the Court decided to hear this case on merits. This 2009 case concerns Bhushan’s statements on corruption in the judiciary in an interview with Tehelka magazine.

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Tihar jail extortion case: MHA sanctions CBI inquiry against AAP leader Satyendar Jain

Satyendar Jain and former Tihar Jail DG Sandeep Goel were accused of running an extortion racket from Tihar and demanding protection money from high profile inmates

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In another setback for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Ministry of Home Affairs accorded sanction for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry against Satyendar Jain, jailed AAP leader, for allegedly extorting Rs 10 crore from conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar as protection money. 

Satyendar Jain and former Tihar Jail DG Sandeep Goel were accused of running an extortion racket from Tihar and demanding protection money from high profile inmates allegedly. The development follows as Delhi chief minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal is in Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam.

Earlier, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena sanctioned the CBI inquiry into extortion charges against Satyendar Jain. In a letter seeking the LG’s nod to probe the extortion charges, the CBI in November last year wrote that Satyendar Jain was accused of running a high-profile extortion racket from Tihar Jail and demanding Rs 10 crore as protection money from Sukesh Chandrashekhar to enable him to live peacefully and comfortably in jail.

The aforesaid allegations were made by the conman who said Satyendar Jain extorted money in various tranches during 2018-21, either personally or through his accomplices to enable Chandrashekar to live comfortably in different jails of Delhi namely Tihar, Rohini and Mandoli.

AAP leader Satyendar Jain was arrested in May 2022 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Jain’s last bail plea was dismissed by the Supreme Court on March 18 this year and the top court asked him to surrender in connection with the money laundering case. The AAP leader was given an interim medical bail on May 26, 2023 after he fell in the jail bathroom. Jain underwent a spinal operation during his bail period.

Beside Satyendar Jain, AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, and Vijay Nair are also in Tihar Jail.

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Rahul Gandhi warns ED, CBI of strong action whenever government changes

The Congress leader’s statement follows after the Income Tax department’s fresh notices asking the party to pay Rs 1,823.08 crore.

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Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused central agencies of working at the behest of the BJP-led government at the Centre and warned them that strict action will be taken against these institutions when the government changes.

The senior Congress leader asserted that if the institutions had done their jobs properly there would have been no problem. He added that these agencies should think that some day the BJP government will change and after that there will be action. He further said that it is his guarantee that the action will be so strong that no institution will dare to do such things again.

Taking to social media platform X, Rahul Gandhi wrote that when the government changes, action will definitely be taken against those who destroyed the democracy. Mentioning that it is his guarantee, Rahul Gandhi said that such actions will be taken that no one will dare to do all this again.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s statement follows after the income tax department’s fresh notices asking the party to pay Rs 1,823.08 crore. The party has accused the ruling BJP of indulging in tax terrorism to financially cripple the opposition party ahead of Lok Sabha polls.

While addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters along with Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, party treasurer Ajay Maken alleged that the BJP is in serious violation of income-tax laws. He said the I-T department should raise a demand of Rs 4,617.58 crore from the saffron party for such violations.

Ajay Maken said that the income-tax returns filed by Congress for eight years have been reopened on baseless and manufactured grounds to levy illegal I-T demand orders totalling thousands of crores of rupees. He stated that the timing of the I-T department’s action in February and March, days before and even days after the Lok Sabha election were announced on March 16, speaks for itself about the mala-fide nature of these actions.

Furthermore, the opposition party will hold nationwide protests over the weekend against fresh income tax demand of over Rs 1,800 crore, which it has described as an egregious attack on democracy and imposition of tax terrorism amid the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

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Jammu and Kashmir: 10 killed as taxi rolls into gorge at Ramban, PM Modi announces ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh

Ramban deputy magistrate said that it was pitch dark and raining heavily when the accident occurred near Battery Chashma around 1.15am.

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In an unfortunate incident, ten passengers were killed when a taxi veered off the road amid heavy rain and fell into a gorge in Ramban district on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway early on Friday.

Baseer-ul-haq, Ramban deputy magistrate said that it was pitch dark and raining heavily when the accident occurred near Battery Chashma around 1.15am. He added that while the vehicle, believed to be a Chevrolet Tavera, has not been traced yet, 10 bodies have been recovered from the steep slope from where it went down 500 metres.

Police along with quick reaction teams, the local tehsildar, assistant commissioner, revenue, and other officials were at the spot supervising rescue work. Reports said that two identity cards were recovered from two bodies. 

The bodies were identified as taxi driver Balwan Singh, 47, of Amb Gharota in Jammu district, and Vipin Mukhiya, of Bhairagang in West Champaran district of Bihar. The identified bodies were taken to Ramban district hospital. Police asserted the taxi was on its way to Kashmir from Jammu.

Expressing grief over the accident in Ramban, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF, which would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. Furthermore, the injured would be given Rs 50,000.  PM Narendra Modi also extended condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for a quick recovery of the injured. 

Taking to social media platform X, President Droupadi Murmu said that the news of many people getting killed after a vehicle fell into a ditch in Ramban area on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway is very sad. She also offered condolences to the bereaved families.

Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir police shared on social media platform that a passenger taxi rolled down a deep gorge on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway near Battery Chashma in Ramban area. It added that Police, SDRF and civil QRT Ramban reached on spot, rescue operation is going on.

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