Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan, after the apex Court’s verdict on his contempt of court case on Monday, said that “my tweets were not intended to disrespect the Supreme Court, but were meant to express my anguish at what I felt was a deviation from its sterling record.” Speaking at the press conference, Bhushan added “This is a watershed moment for freedom of speech and seems to have encouraged many people to speak out against injustices.”

Bhushan said “ I have great respect for the institution of the Supreme Court” adding “I have always believed it to be the last bastion of hope, particularly for the week and the oppressed who knock at its door for the protection of their rights, often against a powerful executive.”

Bhushan also shared his statement on the contempt verdict from his Twitter account. He wrote that he was grateful for the support he had received from a cross-section of society, including citizens, activists, judges, who had encouraged him to stand firm.

In the statement that Bhushan tweeted, he writes “I am here to cheerfully submit to any penalty that can be lawfully inflicted upon me for what the court has determined to be an offence,” the statement further states, “I propose to submit myself to this order and will respectfully pay the fine.”

The statement ends with “Live long democracy! Satyameva Jayate.”

Bhushan on August 24, had responded by refusing to apologise to the Supreme Court after it held him guilty of criminal contempt.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court of India had sentenced Bhushan to a fine of Rupees 1 in the contempt of court case. The court had also said that a failure to deposit the fine would lead to three month jail time and debarment from practicing law for three years.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai, and Krishna Murari delivered the ruling.

Bhushan in June 2020 had tweeted about an undeclared emergency in the country and the role of the Supreme Court and it’s last four Chief Justices.

He had also tweeted about Chief Justice of India S A Bobde trying a Harley Davidson superbike in his hometown of Nagpur during the coronavirus outbreak.

The Supreme Court had initiated a contempt proceeding against the lawyer on July 22 after taking notice of a complaint file by a lawyer on the matter.