Senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who was held guilty of contempt for his tweets criticising Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and the Supreme Court, today said that he will pay the fine of Rupee one charged by the top court.
The court had earlier said that if he doesn’t pay the fine by September 15, he can face jail for three months and a ban from practicing in the Supreme Court for three years.
“Freedom of speech cannot be curtailed,” said the Supreme Court while handing down the sentence, referring to “sane advice” from Attorney General KK Venugopal to the court and to Prashant Bhushan.
Prashant Bhushan, photographed holding up a Re 1 coin, announced at a press conference: “I propose to submit to the order and respectfully pay the fine.”
He said he had always believed the Supreme Court is the “last bastion of hope for the weak and oppressed” and that he never intended to hurt the judiciary, but wanted to express his anguish on a “deviation from its record”.
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