On Tuesday, 25 August, the Supreme Court decided to adjourn the 2009 contempt case against Prashant Bhushan for his comments about corruption in the judiciary to Tehelka magazine till 10 September. The matter will now be heard by a different bench, following Justice Arun Mishra’s retirement on 2 September.
This is different from the other suo motu contempt case against the lawyer-activist in the Supreme Court, which relates to two recent tweets. Bhushan has already been found guilty of criminal contempt in that case.
In the 2009 case, a three-judge bench of the court, comprising Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai, and Krishna Murari, had previously decided it would examine whether it is possible to make allegations of corruption against judges, and if so, what the process for making such allegations should be.
The judges had asked lawyers to present their views to the court on 25 August regarding these issues. On the day, senior advocates Rajeev Dhavan (appearing for Bhushan) and Kapil Sibal (appearing for Tarun Tejpal/Tehelka) urged the court to refer the case to a Constitution Bench as it involved important constitutional questions relating to freedom of speech.
Justice Mishra acknowledged that the current bench would be “short of time” to hear the case, as he was demitting office soon. While the court has not made a decision on the referral of the case to a larger bench, the bench has asked for it to be listed before an “appropriate bench.”