Contempt matter: SC asks lawyer to file proper apology to judges for scandalous allegations

New Delhi, Jan 16 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed a lawyer, who was sentenced to six months in jail after being held guilty of criminal contempt for making “scandalous, unwarranted and baseless imputations” against several judges of the Delhi High Court and district courts in the national capital, to tender a proper unconditional apology to the judges he had targeted, saying it is not satisfied with the nature of his apology.

The Delhi High Court had, on January 9, held the lawyer guilty of contempt of court and sentenced him to six months in jail, besides imposing a fine of Rs 2,000 on him. It had also directed that he be taken into custody and handed over to the superintendent of the Tihar jail.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud granted further opportunity to the lawyer to file a proper apology.

“This is not an apology. This is a contrived apology…. How can he say that it was unintentional and bonafide? He must file a proper apology,” the bench, also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said after perusing the apology filed by the lawyer.

As the hearing commenced, the counsel appearing for the lawyer placed on record an unconditional affidavit and said his client had also tendered a verbal apology and has already been in jail for a week now.

The top court granted him further opportunity to file an apology and posted the matter for hearing on January 19.

In its verdict, the high court had noted that since the lawyer who made the contumacious allegations was an officer of the court, it was necessary to check such actions with a “firm hand”.

He had filed a plea before a single-judge bench of the high court in July 2022 accusing several judges of acting arbitrarily, whimsically or in a biased manner. He had also named the judges in his petition.