Ratul Maitra

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed pleas filed by Maharashtra government and former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, both of which challenged a previous Bombay High Court order that directed a CBI probe into allegations of corruption&nbsp;levelled against him by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, reported news agency ANI.,The Bombay High Court order issuing a CBI enquiry into the matter came on April 5.,<b>Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://opoyi.com/maharashtra-govt-moves-sc-against-cbi-probe-order-against-ex-home-minister-anil-deshmukh">Maharashtra moves SC over CBI probe against ex-minister Deshmukh</a></b>,Supreme Court Justice SK Kaul batted for a CBI investigation, highlighting that the allegations brought forth were serious.,"Allegations are serious, the Home Minister and Police Commissioner are involved. They're closely working together till they fall apart, both holding a particular position. Should CBI not probe? Nature of allegations and persons involved require independent probe", ANI quoted Kaul as saying.,He further brought into light the fact that the allegation was brought forward by Param Bir Singh, someone he titled the former Home Minister's 'right hand man'.,<b>Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://opoyi.com/who-is-anil-deshmukh">Who is Anil Deshmukh? NCP leader stepped down as Maharashtra home minister</a></b>,Deshmukh, on the other hand, was represented by Kapil Sibal. ,Sibal, earlier on Thursday, had said that no preliminary enquiry could be done without Deshmukh being heard, while adding that everyone was supposed to be heard uniformly, including Singh, whose words, as per him, did not "become evidence".

{\"time\":1617884168866,\"strCount\":1677,\"blocks\":[{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed pleas filed by Maharashtra government and former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, both of which challenged a previous Bombay High Court order that directed a CBI probe into allegations of corruption&nbsp;levelled against him by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, reported news agency ANI.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The Bombay High Court order issuing a CBI enquiry into the matter came on April 5.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"<b>Also read:&nbsp;<a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/maharashtra-govt-moves-sc-against-cbi-probe-order-against-ex-home-minister-anil-deshmukh-651547/\\\">Maharashtra moves SC over CBI probe against ex-minister Deshmukh</a></b>\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Supreme Court Justice SK Kaul batted for a CBI investigation, highlighting that the allegations brought forth were serious.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"\\\"Allegations are serious, the Home Minister and Police Commissioner are involved. They're closely working together till they fall apart, both holding a particular position. Should CBI not probe? Nature of allegations and persons involved require independent probe\\\", ANI quoted Kaul as saying.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"He further brought into light the fact that the allegation was brought forward by Param Bir Singh, someone he titled the former Home Minister's 'right hand man'.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"<b>Also read:&nbsp;<a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/who-is-anil-deshmukh-483982/\\\">Who is Anil Deshmukh? NCP leader stepped down as Maharashtra home minister</a></b>\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Deshmukh, on the other hand, was represented by Kapil Sibal. \"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Sibal, earlier on Thursday, had said that no preliminary enquiry could be done without Deshmukh being heard, while adding that everyone was supposed to be heard uniformly, including Singh, whose words, as per him, did not \\\"become evidence\\\".\"}}]}

<ul>
  <li>The pleas in question challenged a previous Bombay High Court order directing a CBI probe against Deshmukh</li>
  <li>Allegations of corruption against Deshmukh were originally levelled by Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh</li>
  <li>The Bombay High Court order came on April 5</li>
</ul>

Opoyi Central

CBI probe against Maharashtra ex-minister Anil Deshmukh will continue, rules SC

AnilDeshmukh

SupremeCourt

BombayHighCourt

ParamBirSingh

PrashantBhushan

Maharashta

Anjaly Raj

"BJP's A team at work to harass, intimidate &amp; silence those who don't fall in line," said advocate Prashant Kishor on Twitter after the <a href="https://opoyi.com/income-tax-raids-on-film-director-anurag-kahsyap-and-actor-taapsee-pannu-in-mumbai">Income Tax Department said they are conducting raids</a> at the premises of actor Taapsee Pannu and director Anurag Kashyap, who are vocal critics of the central government. The raids are linked to the <a href="https://opoyi.com/taapsee-pannu-pavail-gulati-to-reunite-for-anurag-kashyaps-dobaara">director-actor duo</a> promoted Phantom Films and talent hunt company in Mumbai, reports PTI.&nbsp;,<a href="https://opoyi.com/from-jnu-stir-to-farmers-protest-anurag-kashyap-and-tapsee-pannu-have-often-been-trolled-for-their-views">Taapsee and Kashyap</a> have often been in news for their views on current issues such as the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the JNU protest, and the ongoing farmers' protests against the centre's three new farm laws.,When India was witnessing widespread protest against&nbsp;Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in 2019-20, Kashyap has tweeted, "The CAA/CAB is not going anywhere. It is impossible for them to take it back because, for them, that would mean defeat. This government views everything in terms of victory and defeat. Such is their ego that even if everything gets burned to ashes, Modi can never be wrong. Because illiterate people are like that.",<b>Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://opoyi.com/simple-disgust-taapsee-pannu-in-shock-as-sc-asks-rape-accused-if-he-will-marry-the-victim">'Simple disgust': Taapsee Pannu in shock as SC asks rape accused if he will marry the victim</a></b>,Taking to Twitter, Bhushan said, "Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, Actor Taapsee Pannu Face Income Tax Raids. BJP'S A team at work to harass, intimidate &amp; silence those who don't fall in line. India has never seen such malafide use of IT dept, ED, NIA, police etc."&nbsp;,Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav also reacted to the raids, saying, They first employed IT, CBI, ED to conduct raids on vocal &amp; upright political rivals for their character assassination.

Now Nazi govt is chasing social activists, journalists &amp; artists to threaten them against calling spade a spade.

Condemnable Act!&nbsp;@taapsee&nbsp;@anuragkashyap72.",Here's how Twitter reacted to the raids:,Just a few days back, Kashyap&nbsp;<a href="https://opoyi.com/taapsee-pannu-pavail-gulati-to-reunite-for-anurag-kashyaps-dobaara">had called</a>&nbsp;PM Modi an 'Urban Nazi' on Twitter. The 'Gangs of Wasseypur' director has criticised the government on several occasions as he&nbsp;even changed his profile picture to masked PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on Twitter during Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) violence that involved masked mob entering the campus and thrashed students and teachers.,Meanwhile, Taapsee&nbsp;has also spoken against CAA, farmers protest and frequently got into Twitter spats with actor Kangana Ranaut.,The actor tweeted about how not to become a propaganda teacher for others, saying, "If one tweet rattles your unity, one joke rattles your faith or one show rattles your religious belief then it’s you who has to work on strengthening your value system not become ‘propaganda teacher’ for others."

{\"time\":1614764850339,\"strCount\":3320,\"blocks\":[{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"\\\"BJP's A team at work to harass, intimidate &amp; silence those who don't fall in line,\\\" said advocate Prashant Kishor on Twitter after the <a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/entertainment/income-tax-raids-on-film-director-anurag-kahsyap-and-actor-taapsee-pannu-in-mumbai-353000/\\\">Income Tax Department said they are conducting raids</a> at the premises of actor Taapsee Pannu and director Anurag Kashyap, who are vocal critics of the central government. The raids are linked to the <a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/taapsee-pannu-pavail-gulati-to-reunite-for-anurag-kashyaps-dobaara-104588/\\\">director-actor duo</a> promoted Phantom Films and talent hunt company in Mumbai, reports PTI.&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"<a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/entertainment/from-jnu-stir-to-farmers-protest-anurag-kashyap-and-tapsee-pannu-have-often-been-trolled-for-their-views-100777/\\\">Taapsee and Kashyap</a> have often been in news for their views on current issues such as the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the JNU protest, and the ongoing farmers' protests against the centre's three new farm laws.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"When India was witnessing widespread protest against&nbsp;Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in 2019-20, Kashyap has tweeted, \\\"The CAA/CAB is not going anywhere. It is impossible for them to take it back because, for them, that would mean defeat. This government views everything in terms of victory and defeat. Such is their ego that even if everything gets burned to ashes, Modi can never be wrong. Because illiterate people are like that.\\\"\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"<b>Also Read |&nbsp;<a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/world/simple-disgust-taapsee-pannu-in-shock-as-sc-asks-rape-accused-if-he-will-marry-the-victim-431351/\\\">'Simple disgust': Taapsee Pannu in shock as SC asks rape accused if he will marry the victim</a></b>\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Taking to Twitter, Bhushan said, \\\"Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, Actor Taapsee Pannu Face Income Tax Raids. BJP'S A team at work to harass, intimidate &amp; silence those who don't fall in line. India has never seen such malafide use of IT dept, ED, NIA, police etc.\\\"&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"twitter\",\"source\":\"https://twitter.com/pbhushan1/status/1367029165770240010\",\"embed\":\"pbhushan1/status/1367029165770240010\",\"width\":520,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":173.33333333333334}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav also reacted to the raids, saying, They first employed IT, CBI, ED to conduct raids on vocal &amp; upright political rivals for their character assassination.\\n\\nNow Nazi govt is chasing social activists, journalists &amp; artists to threaten them against calling spade a spade.\\n\\nCondemnable Act!&nbsp;@taapsee&nbsp;@anuragkashyap72.\\\"\"}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"twitter\",\"source\":\"https://twitter.com/yadavtejashwi/status/1367035671186010115\",\"embed\":\"yadavtejashwi/status/1367035671186010115\",\"width\":520,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":173.33333333333334}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Here's how Twitter reacted to the raids:\"}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"twitter\",\"source\":\"https://twitter.com/RKRadhakrishn/status/1367010455118471170\",\"embed\":\"RKRadhakrishn/status/1367010455118471170\",\"width\":520,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":173.33333333333334}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"twitter\",\"source\":\"https://twitter.com/arunpudur/status/1367014407318822916\",\"embed\":\"arunpudur/status/1367014407318822916\",\"width\":520,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":173.33333333333334}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"twitter\",\"source\":\"https://twitter.com/borges/status/1367034444201140230\",\"embed\":\"borges/status/1367034444201140230\",\"width\":520,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":173.33333333333334}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"twitter\",\"source\":\"https://twitter.com/Nher_who/status/1367015521745440768\",\"embed\":\"Nher_who/status/1367015521745440768\",\"width\":520,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":173.33333333333334}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"twitter\",\"source\":\"https://twitter.com/QCh5ZC7CBoKMo2y/status/1367039597931237376\",\"embed\":\"QCh5ZC7CBoKMo2y/status/1367039597931237376\",\"width\":520,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":173.33333333333334}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"twitter\",\"source\":\"https://twitter.com/DasVanthala/status/1367033746461892613\",\"embed\":\"DasVanthala/status/1367033746461892613\",\"width\":520,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":173.33333333333334}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Just a few days back, Kashyap&nbsp;<a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/taapsee-pannu-pavail-gulati-to-reunite-for-anurag-kashyaps-dobaara-104588/\\\">had called</a>&nbsp;PM Modi an 'Urban Nazi' on Twitter. The 'Gangs of Wasseypur' director has criticised the government on several occasions as he&nbsp;even changed his profile picture to masked PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on Twitter during Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) violence that involved masked mob entering the campus and thrashed students and teachers.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Meanwhile, Taapsee&nbsp;has also spoken against CAA, farmers protest and frequently got into Twitter spats with actor Kangana Ranaut.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The actor tweeted about how not to become a propaganda teacher for others, saying, \\\"If one tweet rattles your unity, one joke rattles your faith or one show rattles your religious belief then it’s you who has to work on strengthening your value system not become ‘propaganda teacher’ for others.\\\"\"}}]}

<ul>
  <li>The Income Tax department is conducting raids on Taapsee Pannu and Anurag Kashyap</li>
  <li>"BJP'S A team at work to harass, intimidate &amp; silence those who don't fall in line," lawyer Prashant Bhushan said</li>
  <li>RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said, "Now Nazi govt is chasing social activists, journalists &amp; artists to threaten them..."</li>
</ul>

'Condemnable act': Prashant Kanojia, Tejaswi Yadav, others react to raids on Taapsee, Anurag Kashyap

TaapseePannu

AnuragKashyap

TejashwiYadav

Politics

Entertainment

Bollywood

Akash Majumder

New Delhi, Delhi, India

Activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan said on Monday that the arrests of Disha Ravi and Nodeep Kaur reminds him of&nbsp;Sophie Scholl who was beheaded by guillotine in Nazi Germany for resisting the Nazis.,In a tweet, Bhushan said, "When one sees how young, selfless public spirited activists like #DishaRavi &amp; #NodeepKaur are being arrested in India Today, I am reminded of the story of Sophie Scholl who was beheaded by guillotine in Nazi Germany for resisting the Nazis. Read her inspiring story.",<b>Also read:</b><a href="https://opoyi.com/pakistan-pm-imran-khans-party-backs-activist-disha-ravi-slams-modi-regime">&nbsp;Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s party backs activist Disha Ravi, slams ‘Modi regime’</a>,Along with his tweet, Bhushan shared a screenshot of the story Scholl from a Wikipedia page. According to the screenshot, Scholl was executed by&nbsp;guillotine for distributing ant-war leaflets at the University of Munich. It also says that she is extensively commemorated since the 1970s for her anti-Nazi resistance work.,23-year-old Dalit labourer and trade union activist, <a href="https://opoyi.com/nodeep-kaur-dalit-activist-jailed-for-a-month-over-participation-in-farmers-protest">Kaur</a> was arrested on January 12&nbsp;after she had joined a protest by labourers in Haryana's Kundli.&nbsp;,On the other hand,&nbsp;<a href="https://opoyi.com/let-that-sink-in-arrested-activist-disha-ravi-finds-support-from-politicians-activists-writers">21-year-old climate activist Ravi&nbsp;</a> was arrested from Bengaluru on Saturday and sent to five days' police remand by a Delhi court on Sunday after being charged with editing the 'toolkit' on farmers' protest.&nbsp;,Both the arrests have been widely criticised with Opposition leaders, activists and even international influencers slamming the action taken by the Centre.&nbsp;

{\"time\":1613391596106,\"strCount\":1839,\"blocks\":[{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan said on Monday that the arrests of Disha Ravi and Nodeep Kaur reminds him of&nbsp;Sophie Scholl who was beheaded by guillotine in Nazi Germany for resisting the Nazis.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"In a tweet, Bhushan said, \\\"When one sees how young, selfless public spirited activists like #DishaRavi &amp; #NodeepKaur are being arrested in India Today, I am reminded of the story of Sophie Scholl who was beheaded by guillotine in Nazi Germany for resisting the Nazis. Read her inspiring story.\\\"\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"<b>Also read:</b><a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/pakistan-pm-imran-khans-party-backs-activist-disha-ravi-slams-modi-regime-415761/\\\">&nbsp;Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s party backs activist Disha Ravi, slams ‘Modi regime’</a>\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Along with his tweet, Bhushan shared a screenshot of the story Scholl from a Wikipedia page. According to the screenshot, Scholl was executed by&nbsp;guillotine for distributing ant-war leaflets at the University of Munich. It also says that she is extensively commemorated since the 1970s for her anti-Nazi resistance work.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"23-year-old Dalit labourer and trade union activist, <a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/nodeep-kaur-dalit-activist-jailed-for-a-month-over-participation-in-farmers-protest-183972/\\\">Kaur</a> was arrested on January 12&nbsp;after she had joined a protest by labourers in Haryana's Kundli.&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"On the other hand,&nbsp;<a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/let-that-sink-in-arrested-activist-disha-ravi-finds-support-from-politicians-activists-writers-437155/\\\">21-year-old climate activist Ravi&nbsp;</a> was arrested from Bengaluru on Saturday and sent to five days' police remand by a Delhi court on Sunday after being charged with editing the 'toolkit' on farmers' protest.&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Both the arrests have been widely criticised with Opposition leaders, activists and even international influencers slamming the action taken by the Centre.&nbsp;\"}}]}

<ul>
  <li>Prashant Bhushan shared a screenshot of Sophie Scholl's story</li>
  <li>The screenshot says Scholl was beheaded by guillotine in Nazi Germany</li>
  <li>Nodeep Kaur was arrested on January 12&nbsp;after she had joined a protest by labourers</li>
</ul>

'Arrests of  Disha Ravi, Nodeep Kaur reminds me of Sophie Scholl's beheading': Prashant Bhushan

DishaRavi

farmersprotest

DelhiPolice

NaziParty

Shubhangi Shah

The year 2020 hasn't been just another year. The novel coronavirus, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, took control over mankind and probably caused the most destruction this century.&nbsp;,India witnessed its first case on January 30 -- a student at China's Wuhan University, who had returned to Kerala. Soon, more cases were recorded. The government was quick at responding, imposing travel restrictions and ramping up screening at airports.,Life remained normal with India hosting the US President Donald Trump in February, as the virus took hold in several countries.,The World Health Organisation (WHO) that has been widely accused of being slow at responding to the contagion, declared coronavirus as a global pandemic on March 11.,Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his trademark style appeared on television in the evening on March 19 and announced a 'Janata Curfew' for March 22.&nbsp;,"Under ‘Janata Curfew’ no one will go out of their houses," the PM declared.,He came back again on March 24, this time declaring a complete lockdown for 21 days. It was further extended till May 4.,This was probably the first time that India witnessed the plight of a large chunk of its population, who although work and live around us, but still remained somewhat invisible.,Having run out of resources and patience, millions of migrant workers began their journey back home, on foot, walking thousands of kilometres during India's scorching summer.,Their plight made national and international headlines.,Despite the effort, several migrant workers and their family members lost their lives before reaching home. In one heart-wrenching incident, 16 workers who were asleep on a railway track in Maharashtra were run-over by a freight train. Media reported several deaths onboard 'shramik' trains.,But when the Centre was asked in the Parliament about the number of those who had died, it maintained no such data.,While the Centre had no answer to the workers' plight, its Ministry of AYUSH had remedies to cure coronavirus, in homeopathy and Ayurveda. Sripad Naik, the Minister for AYUSH, even went on to claim that Britain's Prince Charles used ayurvedic medicine to recover from COVID-19. The claim was promptly refuted by the British royal's office.,In June, India's Yoga and Ayurveda tycoon Baba Ramdev too launched an Ayurvedic medicine -- Coronil, which he claimed showed 100%&nbsp;favourable results during clinical trials on the coronavirus patients. After the Ministry of AYUSH barred Patanjali to sell it, Ramdev said the company would sell it not as a COVID cure but as a product to manage the disease.,Although coronavirus cases and the death toll rose, the biggest controversy still was the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput on June 14. The actor's death by suicide and the mental issues he faced was soon replaced by the alleged drug syndicate present in Bollywood.,Rajput's father registered a case against the actor's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, accusing her of abetting his suicide. He accused Rhea of "poisoning" his son and demanded her arrest.,Not just her but her brother Showik was also arrested for drugs-related charges linked to the actor's death. Focus soon shifted towards actors Deepika Padukone, Shradha Kapoor who were questioned by&nbsp;the Narcotics Control Board (NCB).,Actor Kangana Ranaut soon jumped in and alleged a drug 'mafia' was active in Bollywood. Other than her comments about Rajput's death and nepotism in the Hindi film industry, her tweets against Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackrey made the most headlines.&nbsp;,In a tweet that sparked a major row, the actor compared Mumbai to Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. As her social media presence rose, so did the threat to her life, at least as believed by the Ministry of Home Affairs which accorded her Y-plus security, not given even to top Opposition figures.,Ranaut wasn't the only one who got herself into trouble over tweets. Lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan fired two tweets in June. In one he accused the Supreme Court, particularly the last four Chief Justices of India, of playing a role in the alleged destruction of India's democracy.,In another, he shared a picture of CJI SA Bobde&nbsp;riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle. "CJI rides a 50 lakh motorcycle belonging to a BJP leader at Raj Bhavan, Nagpur, without a mask or helmet, at a time when he keeps the SC in Lockdown mode denying citizens their fundamental right to access Justice!" he tweeted.,The apex court promptly took suo motu cognisance of the two tweets and found Bhushan guilty of contempt of court. After its multiple attempts for an apology from Bhushan failed, it asked him to pay a fine of Re 1.,As the SC took tweets against it with all seriousness, social media giant Facebook allowed on its platform -- hate speech against minorities. According to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report, Facebook took no action against a Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and&nbsp;three other “Hindu nationalist individuals and groups” who made inflammatory posts against the minorities. This was done&nbsp;to avoid damaging the social media platform’s business prospects in its biggest market, the report added.,Cricket commentator and former player Sunil Gavaskar too found himself in the middle of a controversy for his unsavoury remarks for Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma. "Aur jab lockdown tha to sirf Anushka ki bowling ki practice ki unhone," (He has only faced Anushka’s bowling during the lockdown) Gavaskar said about cricketer Virat Kohli's forgettable performance in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match.,"That, Mr Gavaskar, your message is distasteful is a fact but I would love for you to explain why you thought of making such a sweeping statement on a wife accusing her of her husband’s game?" Sharma said, hitting out at Gavaskar.&nbsp;,Congress leader Rahul Gandhi too became a figure of ridicule, but not for his comments, but because of what former US president Barack Obama wrote about Gandhi in his memoir 'A Promised Land.',Obama described Gandhi&nbsp;as having "a nervous, unformed quality about him, as if he were a student who’d done the coursework and was eager to impress the teacher but deep down lacked either the aptitude or the passion to master the subject."&nbsp;,While Congress' opponents were quick to react to that, the party scrambled to handle the situation.,The Gandhi scion wasn't the only one who made headlines for the wrong reasons, President Donald Trump's namesake son too sparked a row over his knowledge of Geography, when in the wake of the presidential election, he shared a rather disturbing map of the world.,The map showed all the countries, including water bodies and Antarctica, coloured red (depicting supporters of the Republican party), with the exception of the state of California, India, Mexico, Liberia, Cuba and China coloured blue - the hue of the Democratic party.,Although, India was coloured blue, the UT of Jammu and Kashmir and the north-eastern states were marked red. The borders of India were also inaccurately marked.,Apart from such controversies involving political heavyweights, a digital battle too caught everyone's attention. This was the epic YouTube vs TikTok battle.,The row was sparked after TikToker Amir Siddiqui posted a video comparing the two mediums. While he hailed the unity among TikTokers, he accused YouTubers of plagiarising their content. He also called out YouTubers for terming their content as "cringy.",Popular YouTuber Ajey Nagar, better known as CarryMinati, took offence to Siddiqui's video and roasted him line-by-line. From Siddiqui's use of hashtags to generate engagement to his grammar slip-ups, Nagar stopped at nothing. But many were quick to point out at Nagar's homophobic jibes at Siddiqui.,More YouTubers and TikTokers jumped into the spat, after Nagar's video was taken down by the platform. And only God knows if the spat had continued if the government hadn't banned the Chinese app, not because of its content, but because of China's aggression in its Western sector.&nbsp;

{\"time\":1609397640098,\"strCount\":8068,\"blocks\":[{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The year 2020 hasn't been just another year. The novel coronavirus, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, took control over mankind and probably caused the most destruction this century.&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"India witnessed its first case on January 30 -- a student at China's Wuhan University, who had returned to Kerala. Soon, more cases were recorded. The government was quick at responding, imposing travel restrictions and ramping up screening at airports.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Life remained normal with India hosting the US President Donald Trump in February, as the virus took hold in several countries.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The World Health Organisation (WHO) that has been widely accused of being slow at responding to the contagion, declared coronavirus as a global pandemic on March 11.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his trademark style appeared on television in the evening on March 19 and announced a 'Janata Curfew' for March 22.&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"\\\"Under ‘Janata Curfew’ no one will go out of their houses,\\\" the PM declared.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"He came back again on March 24, this time declaring a complete lockdown for 21 days. It was further extended till May 4.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"This was probably the first time that India witnessed the plight of a large chunk of its population, who although work and live around us, but still remained somewhat invisible.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Having run out of resources and patience, millions of migrant workers began their journey back home, on foot, walking thousands of kilometres during India's scorching summer.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Their plight made national and international headlines.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Despite the effort, several migrant workers and their family members lost their lives before reaching home. In one heart-wrenching incident, 16 workers who were asleep on a railway track in Maharashtra were run-over by a freight train. Media reported several deaths onboard 'shramik' trains.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"But when the Centre was asked in the Parliament about the number of those who had died, it maintained no such data.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"While the Centre had no answer to the workers' plight, its Ministry of AYUSH had remedies to cure coronavirus, in homeopathy and Ayurveda. Sripad Naik, the Minister for AYUSH, even went on to claim that Britain's Prince Charles used ayurvedic medicine to recover from COVID-19. The claim was promptly refuted by the British royal's office.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"In June, India's Yoga and Ayurveda tycoon Baba Ramdev too launched an Ayurvedic medicine -- Coronil, which he claimed showed 100%&nbsp;favourable results during clinical trials on the coronavirus patients. After the Ministry of AYUSH barred Patanjali to sell it, Ramdev said the company would sell it not as a COVID cure but as a product to manage the disease.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Although coronavirus cases and the death toll rose, the biggest controversy still was the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput on June 14. The actor's death by suicide and the mental issues he faced was soon replaced by the alleged drug syndicate present in Bollywood.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Rajput's father registered a case against the actor's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, accusing her of abetting his suicide. He accused Rhea of \\\"poisoning\\\" his son and demanded her arrest.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Not just her but her brother Showik was also arrested for drugs-related charges linked to the actor's death. Focus soon shifted towards actors Deepika Padukone, Shradha Kapoor who were questioned by&nbsp;the Narcotics Control Board (NCB).\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Actor Kangana Ranaut soon jumped in and alleged a drug 'mafia' was active in Bollywood. Other than her comments about Rajput's death and nepotism in the Hindi film industry, her tweets against Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackrey made the most headlines.&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"In a tweet that sparked a major row, the actor compared Mumbai to Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. As her social media presence rose, so did the threat to her life, at least as believed by the Ministry of Home Affairs which accorded her Y-plus security, not given even to top Opposition figures.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Ranaut wasn't the only one who got herself into trouble over tweets. Lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan fired two tweets in June. In one he accused the Supreme Court, particularly the last four Chief Justices of India, of playing a role in the alleged destruction of India's democracy.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"In another, he shared a picture of CJI SA Bobde&nbsp;riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle. \\\"CJI rides a 50 lakh motorcycle belonging to a BJP leader at Raj Bhavan, Nagpur, without a mask or helmet, at a time when he keeps the SC in Lockdown mode denying citizens their fundamental right to access Justice!\\\" he tweeted.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The apex court promptly took suo motu cognisance of the two tweets and found Bhushan guilty of contempt of court. After its multiple attempts for an apology from Bhushan failed, it asked him to pay a fine of Re 1.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"As the SC took tweets against it with all seriousness, social media giant Facebook allowed on its platform -- hate speech against minorities. According to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report, Facebook took no action against a Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and&nbsp;three other “Hindu nationalist individuals and groups” who made inflammatory posts against the minorities. This was done&nbsp;to avoid damaging the social media platform’s business prospects in its biggest market, the report added.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Cricket commentator and former player Sunil Gavaskar too found himself in the middle of a controversy for his unsavoury remarks for Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma. \\\"Aur jab lockdown tha to sirf Anushka ki bowling ki practice ki unhone,\\\" (He has only faced Anushka’s bowling during the lockdown) Gavaskar said about cricketer Virat Kohli's forgettable performance in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"\\\"That, Mr Gavaskar, your message is distasteful is a fact but I would love for you to explain why you thought of making such a sweeping statement on a wife accusing her of her husband’s game?\\\" Sharma said, hitting out at Gavaskar.&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Congress leader Rahul Gandhi too became a figure of ridicule, but not for his comments, but because of what former US president Barack Obama wrote about Gandhi in his memoir 'A Promised Land.'\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Obama described Gandhi&nbsp;as having \\\"a nervous, unformed quality about him, as if he were a student who’d done the coursework and was eager to impress the teacher but deep down lacked either the aptitude or the passion to master the subject.\\\"&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"While Congress' opponents were quick to react to that, the party scrambled to handle the situation.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The Gandhi scion wasn't the only one who made headlines for the wrong reasons, President Donald Trump's namesake son too sparked a row over his knowledge of Geography, when in the wake of the presidential election, he shared a rather disturbing map of the world.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The map showed all the countries, including water bodies and Antarctica, coloured red (depicting supporters of the Republican party), with the exception of the state of California, India, Mexico, Liberia, Cuba and China coloured blue - the hue of the Democratic party.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Although, India was coloured blue, the UT of Jammu and Kashmir and the north-eastern states were marked red. The borders of India were also inaccurately marked.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Apart from such controversies involving political heavyweights, a digital battle too caught everyone's attention. This was the epic YouTube vs TikTok battle.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The row was sparked after TikToker Amir Siddiqui posted a video comparing the two mediums. While he hailed the unity among TikTokers, he accused YouTubers of plagiarising their content. He also called out YouTubers for terming their content as \\\"cringy.\\\"\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Popular YouTuber Ajey Nagar, better known as CarryMinati, took offence to Siddiqui's video and roasted him line-by-line. From Siddiqui's use of hashtags to generate engagement to his grammar slip-ups, Nagar stopped at nothing. But many were quick to point out at Nagar's homophobic jibes at Siddiqui.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"More YouTubers and TikTokers jumped into the spat, after Nagar's video was taken down by the platform. And only God knows if the spat had continued if the government hadn't banned the Chinese app, not because of its content, but because of China's aggression in its Western sector.&nbsp;\"}}]}

<ul>
  <li>Government said in the Parliament it had no data on the number of migrant workers' death</li>
  <li>Sushant Singh Rajput's death sparked a major controversy over the use of drugs in Bollywood</li>
  <li>In 2020, we witnessed a rather unique battle between YouTubers and TikTokers&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Controversies that grabbed headlines in a pandemic-stricken year

Migrants

Ramdev

MinistryofAyush

SushantSinghRajput

RheaChakraborty

ShowikChakraborty

KanganaRanaut

Facebook

SunilGavaskar

AnushkaSharma

RahulGandhi

BarackObama

DonaldTrumpJr

YouTube

TikTok

Delhi, India

While the invention of social media ushered in the golden era of communication, with subsequent tech booms creating communication platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram that provided room for previously disenfranchised individuals allowing them to channel their views and opinions, and thereby escorting in an era of inclusivity and tolerance, however, the flip side of the tech revolution also has an ugly head.&nbsp;,The deeper echo chambers of all social media platforms provide an outlet to the most raucous of human behaviour and views including vile and degenerate right-wing obscurantism and profanity.,Profane and onerous views, however, have become mainstream through nefarious algorithms of social media platforms and people in positions of power often sprout their unqualified, illegitimate views that then colour the worldview of their subservient sycophants.,When the coronavirus pandemic reached the American shore, techie Elon Musk took to Twitter to express his view of the novel coronavirus.&nbsp;,The entrepreneur, a resident of the United States, tweeted, “The coronavirus panic is dumb.”,1.45 million COVID-19 related deaths later, lets say, the tweet hasn’t aged well.,The 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, also the self-proclaimed winner of the US 2020 Presidential Election on November 16, tweeted that he had won the election.,The 74-year-old wrote, “I WON THE ELECTION!”,While the Republican candidate might hope that reality was he proclaimed on Twitter, government sources and all major media outlets in the US had by then declared his Democratic rival Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States. President-Elect Biden will take his oath on January 20, 2021.,Writer JK Rowling known for her Harry Potter novels spewed transphobic rhetoric on Twitter on July 7. The British writer in a display of what can only be labelled ignorant behaviour, wrote on Twitter, ‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?&nbsp;,Her comments earned her the irk of a generation of fans who were mesmerised by the ongoings of the Potter verse, with actors Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint all condemning her comment.,While America’s 45th Commander-in-Chief Trump has made repeated use of Twitter to make policy announcements, singer Kanye West, announced his ultimately unsuccessful bid for Presidency in the 2020 US Election via Twitter.,The American rapper wrote, “We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States!,Actor Kangana Ranaut has recently let her mouth run her into a lot of trouble. The potty mouth ‘Queen’ actor in September allegedly equated farmers agitating across Punjab against the farm bills as “the same terrorists who indulged in bloodshed even as no citizen lost citizenship due to CAA.”&nbsp;,Ranaut’s tweet saw a police case being registered against her in Karnataka.&nbsp;,Activist-lawyer Prasant Bhusan was imposed a one rupee fine for contempt of court, over two tweets, one criticising Chief Justice of India S Bobde photo on a Harley Davison and another where he criticised incumbent and past CJI’s.,In his tweet criticising Bobde that earned the ire of the apex Court, Bhusan wrote, “CJI rides a 50 lakh motorcycle belonging to a BJP leader at Raj Bhavan Nagar, without a mask or helmet, at a time when he keeps the SC in lockdown mode denying citizens their fundamental rights to access justice.”,In his other tweet criticising incumbent and past CJI’s Bhusan wrote, “When historians in the future look back at the last 6 years to see how democracy has been destroyed in India, even without a formal emergency, they will particularly mark the role of the Supreme Court in this destruction and more particularly the role of the last 4 CJIs.”,In some of her other controversial tweets in 2020, she allegedly compared Maharashtra with Pakistan occupied Kashmir, and called depression, “a consequence of drug abuse.”,Director Anurag Kashyap courted controversy when he retaliated to the news of his death on Twitter. The four-time Filmfare Award winner tweeted that he met the Hindu God of the underworld and said how Yamraj dropped him home as an Entertainment news outlet KRKBOXOFFICE announced the news of his demise on the social media app.,Actor Swara Bhaskar courted controversy on November 18 when she made use of her Twitter account to question Zomato, an Indian restaurant aggregator, and its founder Deepinder Goyal, over its decision to fund Arnab Goswami run organisation Republic.,Swara tweeted, “Hey @zomatoin @zomato @deepigoyal I’m your regular customer. Do you plan to #DefundTheHate &amp; pull your ads from hate espousing channels like @Republic Bharat? I’m not okay with my money even indirectly funding this kind of communal bigoted hate! Pls let your consumers know.”,Fans of Goswami and ardent lovers of his show took offence and retaliated by boycotting Zomato.,Comedian Kunal Kamra ran into hot water after he called the Supreme Court of India, a ‘supreme joke,’ November 11. Kamra, a stand-up comedian, who has never been shy of courting controversy, wrote, “The Supreme Court of this country is the most Supreme joke of this country…”,Kamra further called Supreme Court Judge DY Chandrachud, “a flight attendant serving champagne to first-class passengers after they’re fast-tracked through, while commoners don’t know if they’ll ever be boarded or seated, let alone served.&nbsp;,*Justice*”,Kamra’s tweets earned him a contempt of court charge and Attorney General KK Venugopal labelled the tweets vulgar and obnoxious.

{\"time\":1607433908356,\"strCount\":5709,\"blocks\":[{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"While the invention of social media ushered in the golden era of communication, with subsequent tech booms creating communication platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram that provided room for previously disenfranchised individuals allowing them to channel their views and opinions, and thereby escorting in an era of inclusivity and tolerance, however, the flip side of the tech revolution also has an ugly head.&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The deeper echo chambers of all social media platforms provide an outlet to the most raucous of human behaviour and views including vile and degenerate right-wing obscurantism and profanity.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Profane and onerous views, however, have become mainstream through nefarious algorithms of social media platforms and people in positions of power often sprout their unqualified, illegitimate views that then colour the worldview of their subservient sycophants.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"When the coronavirus pandemic reached the American shore, techie Elon Musk took to Twitter to express his view of the novel coronavirus.&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The entrepreneur, a resident of the United States, tweeted, “The coronavirus panic is dumb.”\"}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"twitter\",\"source\":\"https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1236029449042198528\",\"embed\":\"elonmusk/status/1236029449042198528\",\"width\":520,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":173.33333333333334}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"1.45 million COVID-19 related deaths later, lets say, the tweet hasn’t aged well.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, also the self-proclaimed winner of the US 2020 Presidential Election on November 16, tweeted that he had won the election.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The 74-year-old wrote, “I WON THE ELECTION!”\"}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"twitter\",\"source\":\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1328200072987893762\",\"embed\":\"realDonaldTrump/status/1328200072987893762\",\"width\":520,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":173.33333333333334}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"While the Republican candidate might hope that reality was he proclaimed on Twitter, government sources and all major media outlets in the US had by then declared his Democratic rival Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States. President-Elect Biden will take his oath on January 20, 2021.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Writer JK Rowling known for her Harry Potter novels spewed transphobic rhetoric on Twitter on July 7. The British writer in a display of what can only be labelled ignorant behaviour, wrote on Twitter, ‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"twitter\",\"source\":\"https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1269382518362509313\",\"embed\":\"jk_rowling/status/1269382518362509313\",\"width\":520,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":173.33333333333334}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Her comments earned her the irk of a generation of fans who were mesmerised by the ongoings of the Potter verse, with actors Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint all condemning her comment.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"While America’s 45th Commander-in-Chief Trump has made repeated use of Twitter to make policy announcements, singer Kanye West, announced his ultimately unsuccessful bid for Presidency in the 2020 US Election via Twitter.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The American rapper wrote, “We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States!\"}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"twitter\",\"source\":\"https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/1279575273365594112\",\"embed\":\"kanyewest/status/1279575273365594112\",\"width\":520,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":173.33333333333334}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Actor Kangana Ranaut has recently let her mouth run her into a lot of trouble. The potty mouth ‘Queen’ actor in September allegedly equated farmers agitating across Punjab against the farm bills as “the same terrorists who indulged in bloodshed even as no citizen lost citizenship due to CAA.”&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"twitter\",\"source\":\"https://twitter.com/KanganaTeam/status/1307640690868805635\",\"embed\":\"KanganaTeam/status/1307640690868805635\",\"width\":520,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":173.33333333333334}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Ranaut’s tweet saw a police case being registered against her in Karnataka.&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Activist-lawyer Prasant Bhusan was imposed a one rupee fine for contempt of court, over two tweets, one criticising Chief Justice of India S Bobde photo on a Harley Davison and another where he criticised incumbent and past CJI’s.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"In his tweet criticising Bobde that earned the ire of the apex Court, Bhusan wrote, “CJI rides a 50 lakh motorcycle belonging to a BJP leader at Raj Bhavan Nagar, without a mask or helmet, at a time when he keeps the SC in lockdown mode denying citizens their fundamental rights to access justice.”\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"In his other tweet criticising incumbent and past CJI’s Bhusan wrote, “When historians in the future look back at the last 6 years to see how democracy has been destroyed in India, even without a formal emergency, they will particularly mark the role of the Supreme Court in this destruction and more particularly the role of the last 4 CJIs.”\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"In some of her other controversial tweets in 2020, she allegedly compared Maharashtra with Pakistan occupied Kashmir, and called depression, “a consequence of drug abuse.”\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Director Anurag Kashyap courted controversy when he retaliated to the news of his death on Twitter. The four-time Filmfare Award winner tweeted that he met the Hindu God of the underworld and said how Yamraj dropped him home as an Entertainment news outlet KRKBOXOFFICE announced the news of his demise on the social media app.\"}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"twitter\",\"source\":\"https://twitter.com/anuragkashyap72/status/1305388366557372416\",\"embed\":\"anuragkashyap72/status/1305388366557372416\",\"width\":520,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":173.33333333333334}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Actor Swara Bhaskar courted controversy on November 18 when she made use of her Twitter account to question Zomato, an Indian restaurant aggregator, and its founder Deepinder Goyal, over its decision to fund Arnab Goswami run organisation Republic.\"}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"twitter\",\"source\":\"https://twitter.com/ReallySwara/status/1328980268116393989\",\"embed\":\"ReallySwara/status/1328980268116393989\",\"width\":520,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":173.33333333333334}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Swara tweeted, “Hey @zomatoin @zomato @deepigoyal I’m your regular customer. Do you plan to #DefundTheHate &amp; pull your ads from hate espousing channels like @Republic Bharat? I’m not okay with my money even indirectly funding this kind of communal bigoted hate! Pls let your consumers know.”\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Fans of Goswami and ardent lovers of his show took offence and retaliated by boycotting Zomato.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Comedian Kunal Kamra ran into hot water after he called the Supreme Court of India, a ‘supreme joke,’ November 11. Kamra, a stand-up comedian, who has never been shy of courting controversy, wrote, “The Supreme Court of this country is the most Supreme joke of this country…”\"}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"twitter\",\"source\":\"https://twitter.com/kunalkamra88/status/1326437153082109953\",\"embed\":\"kunalkamra88/status/1326437153082109953\",\"width\":520,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":173.33333333333334}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Kamra further called Supreme Court Judge DY Chandrachud, “a flight attendant serving champagne to first-class passengers after they’re fast-tracked through, while commoners don’t know if they’ll ever be boarded or seated, let alone served.&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"*Justice*”\"}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"twitter\",\"source\":\"https://twitter.com/kunalkamra88/status/1326469753519665153\",\"embed\":\"kunalkamra88/status/1326469753519665153\",\"width\":520,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":173.33333333333334}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Kamra’s tweets earned him a contempt of court charge and Attorney General KK Venugopal labelled the tweets vulgar and obnoxious.\"}}]}

<ul>
  <li>Onerous views have become mainstream through algorithms of social media platforms</li>
  <li>President Donald Trump declared himself victorous in the 2020 US Presidential elections on Twitter</li>
  <li>&nbsp;Activist-lawyer Prasant Bhusan was imposed a one rupee fine for contempt of court, over two tweets</li>
</ul>

Top 10 controversial Twitter moments of 2020

DonaldTrump

Twitter

KunalKamra

Comedy

ElonMusk

Ayushi Goswami

Activist-lawyer&nbsp;Prashant Bhushan, on Thursday, filed a petition before the Supreme Court of India seeking review of its August 31 judgment, that sentenced him with a fine of  Re 1 in the contempt case for his tweets on the judiciary, ANI reported.,On August 31, <a href="https://opoyi.com/sc-imposes-a-fine-of-rs-1-on-prashant-bhushan-in-contempt-case">Bhushan was directed to deposit a Re 1 fine</a> with the Supreme Court registry by September 15, with failure to do so entailing a three-month jail term and debarment from the law for three years. Bhushan had later deposited the symbolic fine.&nbsp;,Tweeting two photos soon after the top court verdict, Bhushan wrote, "My lawyer and senior colleague Rajiv Dhavan contributed 1 Re immediately after the contempt judgement today which I gratefully accepted.",Bhushan was held guilty of&nbsp;<a href="https://opoyi.com/supreme-court-likely-to-hear-prashant-bhushans-contempt-case-today">contempt of court</a>&nbsp;on August 14. The case is related to two tweets posted by Bhushan on June 27 and 29. While the first one talked about an undeclared emergency and the role of the Supreme Court, the second was regarding Chief Justice SA Bobde, who was photographed trying a Harley Davidson superbike in his hometown Nagpur, during the coronavirus lockdown.,The top court also referred to a 2009 contempt case against the senior advocate.

{\"time\":1601532679313,\"strCount\":1389,\"blocks\":[{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Activist-lawyer&nbsp;Prashant Bhushan, on Thursday, filed a petition before the Supreme Court of India seeking review of its August 31 judgment, that sentenced him with a fine of  Re 1 in the contempt case for his tweets on the judiciary, ANI reported.\"}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"others\",\"source\":\"<div class=\\\"others-embed\\\"><blockquote class=\\\"twitter-tweet\\\"><p lang=\\\"en\\\" dir=\\\"ltr\\\">Lawyer Prashant Bhushan files petition before Supreme Court, seeking review of its August 31 judgement slapping a fine of Re 1 on him for contempt of the court. <a href=\\\"https://t.co/YiLyxVS6ul\\\">pic.twitter.com/YiLyxVS6ul</a></p>&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href=\\\"https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1311537148730859520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\\\">October 1, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src=\\\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\\\" charset=\\\"utf-8\\\"></script></div>\",\"embed\":\"<div class=\\\"others-embed\\\"><blockquote class=\\\"twitter-tweet\\\"><p lang=\\\"en\\\" dir=\\\"ltr\\\">Lawyer Prashant Bhushan files petition before Supreme Court, seeking review of its August 31 judgement slapping a fine of Re 1 on him for contempt of the court. <a href=\\\"https://t.co/YiLyxVS6ul\\\">pic.twitter.com/YiLyxVS6ul</a></p>&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href=\\\"https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1311537148730859520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\\\">October 1, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src=\\\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\\\" charset=\\\"utf-8\\\"></script></div>\",\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":null}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"On August 31, <a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/sc-imposes-a-fine-of-rs-1-on-prashant-bhushan-in-contempt-case-530625/\\\">Bhushan was directed to deposit a Re 1 fine</a> with the Supreme Court registry by September 15, with failure to do so entailing a three-month jail term and debarment from the law for three years. Bhushan had later deposited the symbolic fine.&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Tweeting two photos soon after the top court verdict, Bhushan wrote, \\\"My lawyer and senior colleague Rajiv Dhavan contributed 1 Re immediately after the contempt judgement today which I gratefully accepted.\\\"\"}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"others\",\"source\":\"<div class=\\\"others-embed\\\"><blockquote class=\\\"twitter-tweet\\\"><p lang=\\\"en\\\" dir=\\\"ltr\\\">My lawyer &amp; senior colleague Rajiv Dhavan contributed 1 Re immediately after the contempt judgement today which I gratefully accepted <a href=\\\"https://t.co/vVXmzPe4ss\\\">pic.twitter.com/vVXmzPe4ss</a></p>&mdash; Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) <a href=\\\"https://twitter.com/pbhushan1/status/1300348492322205696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\\\">August 31, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src=\\\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\\\" charset=\\\"utf-8\\\"></script></div>\",\"embed\":\"<div class=\\\"others-embed\\\"><blockquote class=\\\"twitter-tweet\\\"><p lang=\\\"en\\\" dir=\\\"ltr\\\">My lawyer &amp; senior colleague Rajiv Dhavan contributed 1 Re immediately after the contempt judgement today which I gratefully accepted <a href=\\\"https://t.co/vVXmzPe4ss\\\">pic.twitter.com/vVXmzPe4ss</a></p>&mdash; Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) <a href=\\\"https://twitter.com/pbhushan1/status/1300348492322205696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\\\">August 31, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src=\\\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\\\" charset=\\\"utf-8\\\"></script></div>\",\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":null}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Bhushan was held guilty of&nbsp;<a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/supreme-court-likely-to-hear-prashant-bhushans-contempt-case-today-502903/\\\">contempt of court</a>&nbsp;on August 14. The case is related to two tweets posted by Bhushan on June 27 and 29. While the first one talked about an undeclared emergency and the role of the Supreme Court, the second was regarding Chief Justice SA Bobde, who was photographed trying a Harley Davidson superbike in his hometown Nagpur, during the coronavirus lockdown.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The top court also referred to a 2009 contempt case against the senior advocate.\"}}]}

<ul>
  <li>On August 31, the Supreme Court directed Bhushan to deposit a Re 1 fine</li>
  <li>Bhushan had tweeted a photo, saying his lawyer Rajiv Dhavan contributed Re 1 for the fine</li>
  <li>The case is related to two tweets posted by Bhushan on June 27 and 29</li>
</ul>

Prashant Bhushan seeks review of Re 1  fine verdict, moves Supreme Court

India

Ex-Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader Umar Khalid who was arrested on Sunday night under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act was sent to 10-day police custody on Monday, PTI reported.&nbsp;,Khalid was arrested by the special cell of the Delhi Police late on Sunday night following 11 hours of interrogation for his alleged role in the northeast Delhi riots.&nbsp;,A section of academics, politicians and social activists on Monday expressed solidarity with the former JNU student.,Dr SQR Ilyas, the national president of Welfare Party of India, and Khalid’s father had tweeted, “My son Umar Khalid has been arrested tonight at 11:00 pm by Special Cell, Delhi Police under UAPA. Police was questioning him since 1:00 pm. He has been implicated in Delhi Riots. #StandWithUmarKhalid.”,According to a statement released by his party, Ilyas strongly condemned the arrest of his son and said that police are "falsely implicating him in Delhi Riots", as per PTI report.,The #StandWithUmarKhalid started trending on Twitter following Khalid’s arrest.,<a href="https://opoyi.com/former-jnu-student-leader-umar-khalid-arrested-over-alleged-role-in-northeast-delhi-riots">Also Read:&nbsp;Former JNU student leader Umar Khalid arrested over alleged role in northeast Delhi riots</a>,Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor tweeted using the hashtag and wrote “PM says he welcomes criticism, but forgets to mention the cost of criticism to be paid by those who speak out. In today’s India, payback is only reserved to our own citizens, never against countries who actually question and challenge our sovereignty.”,Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav also tweeted expressing dismay over the arrest and added that Khalid was among the leaders India deserves. Yadav was himself implicated in the Delhi riots by Delhi Police.,Yadav wrote “Shocked that an anti-terror law UAPA has been used to arrest a young, thinking, idealist like Umar Khalid who has always opposed violence and communalism in any form. He is undoubtedly among the leaders that India deserves. Delhi Police can't detain India's future for long.”,Lawyer Prashant Bhushan also criticised the move and wrote that the arrest exposes the “malafide nature of its investigation into Delhi riots.",Bhushan wrote “Umar Khalid's arrest by Delhi police after naming Yechury, Yogendra Yadav, Jayati Ghosh &amp; Apoorvanand, leaves no doubt at all about the malafide nature of it's investigation into Delhi riots. It's a conspiracy by the police to frame peaceful activists in the guise of Investigation.”,Activist Harsh Mandar called Khalid a youth the country should be proud of and added that he always spoke of non-violence and Gandhi.,Mandar tweeted “...He's a youth a country should be proud of - idealistic, progressive, brave. We spoke together in anti-CAA protests: he spoke always of non-violence &amp; Gandhi. Today he's arrested under draconian UAPA on trumped up charges of conspiracy. Cry out, my country.”,A group of academicians and activists, including Satish Deshpande, Mary John, Apoorvanand, Nandini Sundar, Shuddhabrata Sengupta, Aakar Patel, Mander, Farah Naqvi and Biraj Patnaik, also jointly issued a statement expressing solidarity with Khalid and termed his arrest a "witch-hunt".

{\"time\":1600097352141,\"strCount\":3248,\"blocks\":[{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Ex-Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader Umar Khalid who was arrested on Sunday night under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act was sent to 10-day police custody on Monday, PTI reported.&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Khalid was arrested by the special cell of the Delhi Police late on Sunday night following 11 hours of interrogation for his alleged role in the northeast Delhi riots.&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"A section of academics, politicians and social activists on Monday expressed solidarity with the former JNU student.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Dr SQR Ilyas, the national president of Welfare Party of India, and Khalid’s father had tweeted, “My son Umar Khalid has been arrested tonight at 11:00 pm by Special Cell, Delhi Police under UAPA. Police was questioning him since 1:00 pm. He has been implicated in Delhi Riots. #StandWithUmarKhalid.”\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"According to a statement released by his party, Ilyas strongly condemned the arrest of his son and said that police are \\\"falsely implicating him in Delhi Riots\\\", as per PTI report.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The #StandWithUmarKhalid started trending on Twitter following Khalid’s arrest.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"<a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/former-jnu-student-leader-umar-khalid-arrested-over-alleged-role-in-northeast-delhi-riots-576635/\\\">Also Read:&nbsp;Former JNU student leader Umar Khalid arrested over alleged role in northeast Delhi riots</a>\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor tweeted using the hashtag and wrote “PM says he welcomes criticism, but forgets to mention the cost of criticism to be paid by those who speak out. In today’s India, payback is only reserved to our own citizens, never against countries who actually question and challenge our sovereignty.”\"}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"twitter\",\"source\":\"https://twitter.com/ShashiTharoor/status/1305462489446981632\",\"embed\":\"ShashiTharoor/status/1305462489446981632\",\"width\":520,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":173.33333333333334}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav also tweeted expressing dismay over the arrest and added that Khalid was among the leaders India deserves. Yadav was himself implicated in the Delhi riots by Delhi Police.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Yadav wrote “Shocked that an anti-terror law UAPA has been used to arrest a young, thinking, idealist like Umar Khalid who has always opposed violence and communalism in any form. He is undoubtedly among the leaders that India deserves. Delhi Police can't detain India's future for long.”\"}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"twitter\",\"source\":\"https://twitter.com/_YogendraYadav/status/1305356296825102336\",\"embed\":\"_YogendraYadav/status/1305356296825102336\",\"width\":520,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":173.33333333333334}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Lawyer Prashant Bhushan also criticised the move and wrote that the arrest exposes the “malafide nature of its investigation into Delhi riots.\\\"\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Bhushan wrote “Umar Khalid's arrest by Delhi police after naming Yechury, Yogendra Yadav, Jayati Ghosh &amp; Apoorvanand, leaves no doubt at all about the malafide nature of it's investigation into Delhi riots. It's a conspiracy by the police to frame peaceful activists in the guise of Investigation.”\"}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"twitter\",\"source\":\"https://twitter.com/pbhushan1/status/1305319306800951296\",\"embed\":\"pbhushan1/status/1305319306800951296\",\"width\":520,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":173.33333333333334}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Activist Harsh Mandar called Khalid a youth the country should be proud of and added that he always spoke of non-violence and Gandhi.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Mandar tweeted “...He's a youth a country should be proud of - idealistic, progressive, brave. We spoke together in anti-CAA protests: he spoke always of non-violence &amp; Gandhi. Today he's arrested under draconian UAPA on trumped up charges of conspiracy. Cry out, my country.”\"}},{\"type\":\"embed\",\"data\":{\"service\":\"twitter\",\"source\":\"https://twitter.com/harsh_mander/status/1305240884967960576\",\"embed\":\"harsh_mander/status/1305240884967960576\",\"width\":520,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"\",\"aspectRatio\":173.33333333333334}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"A group of academicians and activists, including Satish Deshpande, Mary John, Apoorvanand, Nandini Sundar, Shuddhabrata Sengupta, Aakar Patel, Mander, Farah Naqvi and Biraj Patnaik, also jointly issued a statement expressing solidarity with Khalid and termed his arrest a \\\"witch-hunt\\\".\"}}]}

<ul>
  <li>Khalid was on Sunday arrested by the special cell of the Delhi Police</li>
  <li>A section of academics, politicians and social activists on Monday expressed solidarity with the former JNU student</li>
  <li>He was sent to 10-day police custody on Monday</li>
</ul>

Ex-JNU student Umar Khalid sent to 10-day police custody, academic and activists condemn arrest

DelhiRiots

UmarKhalid

ShashiTharoor

Activist-lawyer
Prashant Bhushan, on Saturday, moved the Supreme Court seeking the right to appeal against the earlier conviction in a criminal contempt case for tweets against
the judiciary to be heard by a larger and different bench.,On August
31, Bhushan was directed to deposit a Re 1 fine with the Supreme Court registry
by September 15, with failure to do so entailing a three-month jail term and
debarment from law for three years, PTI reported. ,In a plea
filed through lawyer Kamini Jaiswal, Bhushan sought the declaration that a “person
convicted for criminal contempt by this court, including the petitioner herein,
would have a right to an intra-court appeal to be heard by a larger and
different bench” and thus they raise fear of inherent bias. ,In the
plea, Bhushan suggested changes to procedure in order to reduce chances of “arbitrary,
vengeful and high-handed decisions” in criminal contempt cases, adding that because
the apex court is the aggrieved party in such cases as well as the “prosecutor,
the witness and the judge” and hence they raise fear of inherent bias. ,The plea
said that the right to appeal is a fundamental right provided by the
Constitution of India in addition to being guaranteed under international law and
would act as “vital safeguard against wrongful conviction and would truly
enable the provision of truth as a defence”. ,It also seeks
direction for framing rules and guidelines “providing for intra-court appeal
against conviction in original criminal contempt cases”. ,Under the
present scheme, a person convicted for criminal contempt has the right to file
a review petition against the judgement with the plea being usually decided by
the bench in the absence of the contemnor. ,Bhushan said
that the petition has been filed for the enforcement of fundamental rights guaranteed
under Article 14 (rights to equality), 19 (Freedom of speech and expression)
and 21 (right to life) of the constitution. ,“That the
existing Act and Rules, do not bar or prohibit the prayers as sought by the
Petitioner. In fact, it is in the spirit of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 to
lay down such a procedure. This Hon'ble Court has in the past framed special
rules to deal with cases concerning death penalty and has also devised special
remedy in the nature of 'curative petition' against a final judgment of the
Supreme Court on certain limited grounds,” it said. ,It said
that the plea has been filed in order to bring important procedural safeguards
when the top court considers cases of criminal contempt in original proceedings
that is those proceedings where it does not act as an appellate court. ,“In such
cases, considering the fact that there is inherent unavoidable conflict of
interest involved, and the fact that liberty of the alleged contemnor is at
stake, it is of utmost importance that certain basic safeguards are designed
which would reduce (though not obviate) chances of arbitrary, vengeful and high-handed
decisions.”,“It is
extremely important to minimise such decisions since they not only cause great
injustice to the alleged contemnor, but also bring disrepute to the court
itself and are likely to be harshly judged by legal historians,” it said.,It further
noted that the right to appeal against conviction in original criminal cases is
a substantive right under Article 21 and flows from principles of natural justice.
,“Right of
Appeal is an absolute right according to Article 14(5) of International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which India has ratified and is
therefore binding upon the Indian State. Under ICCPR, first appeal is a right
even where trial is by the highest court and review is not a substitute for an
appeal.”,“As a judge
the power of the Supreme Court to convict and sentence the accused is unlimited
and arbitrary... No one can be at once a suitor and a judge. Thus, there is a
need for an intra-court appeal,” it said. ,It said
that contempt proceedings are “quasi-criminal in nature, akin to criminal trial”
and similar procedural safeguards must apply. ,Bhushan is
facing another contempt case of 2009. In 2009, the Supreme Court issued a
contempt case to Bhushan and Tarun Tejpalfor allegedly casting aspersions on a
number of sitting and former justices in an interview to news magazine “Tehelka”.
,On Septemver
10, the court accepted Bhushan’s plea seeking assistance of Attorney General KK
Venugoal in the case. 

{\"time\":1599930778326,\"strCount\":4425,\"blocks\":[{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Activist-lawyer\\nPrashant Bhushan, on Saturday, moved the Supreme Court seeking the right to appeal against the earlier conviction in a criminal contempt case for tweets against\\nthe judiciary to be heard by a larger and different bench.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"On August\\n31, Bhushan was directed to deposit a Re 1 fine with the Supreme Court registry\\nby September 15, with failure to do so entailing a three-month jail term and\\ndebarment from law for three years, PTI reported. \"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"In a plea\\nfiled through lawyer Kamini Jaiswal, Bhushan sought the declaration that a “person\\nconvicted for criminal contempt by this court, including the petitioner herein,\\nwould have a right to an intra-court appeal to be heard by a larger and\\ndifferent bench” and thus they raise fear of inherent bias. \"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"In the\\nplea, Bhushan suggested changes to procedure in order to reduce chances of “arbitrary,\\nvengeful and high-handed decisions” in criminal contempt cases, adding that because\\nthe apex court is the aggrieved party in such cases as well as the “prosecutor,\\nthe witness and the judge” and hence they raise fear of inherent bias. \"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The plea\\nsaid that the right to appeal is a fundamental right provided by the\\nConstitution of India in addition to being guaranteed under international law and\\nwould act as “vital safeguard against wrongful conviction and would truly\\nenable the provision of truth as a defence”. \"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"It also seeks\\ndirection for framing rules and guidelines “providing for intra-court appeal\\nagainst conviction in original criminal contempt cases”. \"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Under the\\npresent scheme, a person convicted for criminal contempt has the right to file\\na review petition against the judgement with the plea being usually decided by\\nthe bench in the absence of the contemnor. \"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Bhushan said\\nthat the petition has been filed for the enforcement of fundamental rights guaranteed\\nunder Article 14 (rights to equality), 19 (Freedom of speech and expression)\\nand 21 (right to life) of the constitution. \"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"“That the\\nexisting Act and Rules, do not bar or prohibit the prayers as sought by the\\nPetitioner. In fact, it is in the spirit of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 to\\nlay down such a procedure. This Hon'ble Court has in the past framed special\\nrules to deal with cases concerning death penalty and has also devised special\\nremedy in the nature of 'curative petition' against a final judgment of the\\nSupreme Court on certain limited grounds,” it said. \"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"It said\\nthat the plea has been filed in order to bring important procedural safeguards\\nwhen the top court considers cases of criminal contempt in original proceedings\\nthat is those proceedings where it does not act as an appellate court. \"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"“In such\\ncases, considering the fact that there is inherent unavoidable conflict of\\ninterest involved, and the fact that liberty of the alleged contemnor is at\\nstake, it is of utmost importance that certain basic safeguards are designed\\nwhich would reduce (though not obviate) chances of arbitrary, vengeful and high-handed\\ndecisions.”\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"“It is\\nextremely important to minimise such decisions since they not only cause great\\ninjustice to the alleged contemnor, but also bring disrepute to the court\\nitself and are likely to be harshly judged by legal historians,” it said.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"It further\\nnoted that the right to appeal against conviction in original criminal cases is\\na substantive right under Article 21 and flows from principles of natural justice.\\n\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"“Right of\\nAppeal is an absolute right according to Article 14(5) of International\\nCovenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which India has ratified and is\\ntherefore binding upon the Indian State. Under ICCPR, first appeal is a right\\neven where trial is by the highest court and review is not a substitute for an\\nappeal.”\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"“As a judge\\nthe power of the Supreme Court to convict and sentence the accused is unlimited\\nand arbitrary... No one can be at once a suitor and a judge. Thus, there is a\\nneed for an intra-court appeal,” it said. \"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"It said\\nthat contempt proceedings are “quasi-criminal in nature, akin to criminal trial”\\nand similar procedural safeguards must apply. \"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Bhushan is\\nfacing another contempt case of 2009. In 2009, the Supreme Court issued a\\ncontempt case to Bhushan and Tarun Tejpalfor allegedly casting aspersions on a\\nnumber of sitting and former justices in an interview to news magazine “Tehelka”.\\n\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"On Septemver\\n10, the court accepted Bhushan’s plea seeking assistance of Attorney General KK\\nVenugoal in the case. \"}}]}

Shubham Banerjee

<ul>
  <li>In the plea, Bhushan sought the right to an intra-court appeal to be heard by a larger and different bench</li>
  <li>On August 31, Bhushan was directed to deposit a Re 1 fine with the Supreme Court registry by September 15 for conviction in a contmept case</li>
  <li>The plea said that contempt proceedings are “quasi-criminal in nature” and similar procedural safeguards must apply</li>
</ul>

Prashant Bhushan seeks right to appeal in contempt conviction, moves SC

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has expressed its concern regarding the decisions taken by the Supreme Court on 31 August, 2020 to convict prominent human rights lawyer Prashant Bhushan for criminal contempt of court, on the basis of two twitter posts in which he criticised the Indian judiciary. They also urged the country to review its criminal contempt laws. ,“While the Court only imposed a symbolic fine of one rupee, rather than imprisonment, the ICJ considers that the conviction appears to be inconsistent with international standards on freedom of expression and the role of lawyers,” ICJ observed.,<b>ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://opoyi.com/sc-imposes-a-fine-of-rs-1-on-prashant-bhushan-in-contempt-case">SC imposes a fine of Re 1 on Prashant Bhushan in contempt case</a></b>,The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is an international human rights non-governmental organisation. It is a standing group of 60 eminent jurists—including senior judges, attorneys and academics—who work to develop national and international human rights standards through the law.,“While the Indian Supreme Court has over the years generally been an institution that has served to advance human rights in India and globally, we fear it now may be perceived as silencing criticism and freedom of expression by invoking outdated criminal contempt laws,” ICJ legal and policy advisor Ian Seiderman said in a statement.,<b>ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://opoyi.com/with-1-rupee-coin-and-a-smile-prashant-bhushan-wraps-up-the-contempt-case">With 1 rupee coin and a smile, Prashant Bhushan wraps up the contempt case</a></b>,A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court led by Justice Arun Mishra had found Bhushan is guilty of contempt and had let him off with a fine of Re 1. Meanwhile, the court has referred a  2009 contempt case against Bhushan to an appropriate bench that will take up the matter on September 10.

{\"time\":1599031205524,\"strCount\":1926,\"blocks\":[{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has expressed its concern regarding the decisions taken by the Supreme Court on 31 August, 2020 to convict prominent human rights lawyer Prashant Bhushan for criminal contempt of court, on the basis of two twitter posts in which he criticised the Indian judiciary. They also urged the country to review its criminal contempt laws. \"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"“While the Court only imposed a symbolic fine of one rupee, rather than imprisonment, the ICJ considers that the conviction appears to be inconsistent with international standards on freedom of expression and the role of lawyers,” ICJ observed.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"<b>ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/sc-imposes-a-fine-of-rs-1-on-prashant-bhushan-in-contempt-case-530625/\\\">SC imposes a fine of Re 1 on Prashant Bhushan in contempt case</a></b>\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is an international human rights non-governmental organisation. It is a standing group of 60 eminent jurists—including senior judges, attorneys and academics—who work to develop national and international human rights standards through the law.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"“While the Indian Supreme Court has over the years generally been an institution that has served to advance human rights in India and globally, we fear it now may be perceived as silencing criticism and freedom of expression by invoking outdated criminal contempt laws,” ICJ legal and policy advisor Ian Seiderman said in a statement.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"<b>ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/with-1-rupee-coin-and-a-smile-prashant-bhushan-wraps-up-the-contempt-case-559915/\\\">With 1 rupee coin and a smile, Prashant Bhushan wraps up the contempt case</a></b>\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court led by Justice Arun Mishra had found Bhushan is guilty of contempt and had let him off with a fine of Re 1. Meanwhile, the court has referred a  2009 contempt case against Bhushan to an appropriate bench that will take up the matter on September 10.\"}}]}

<ul>
  <li>The commission said Bhushan’s conviction is &nbsp;inconsistent with international free speech laws</li>
  <li>ICJ is a standing group of 60 eminent jurists</li>
  <li>The Supreme Court will take up a 2009 contempt case against Bhushan on September 10</li>
</ul>

International Commission of Jurists urges India to review criminal contempt laws after Prashant Bhushan case

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.

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<ul>
  <li>Bhushan called the judgement a watershed moment for freedom of speech in the country</li>
  <li>He added that he has great respect for the institution of the Supreme Court</li>
  <li>The contempt proceedings against Bhushan had been announced &nbsp;on July 22</li>
</ul>

“Have great respect for the institution of the Supreme Court” Prashant Bhushan after contempt verdict

Gargi Kaul

A hint of a smile, while holding up a Re 1 coin, on activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan's face said it all. The 63-year-old, who had been held guilty of contempt by the Supreme Court, had earlier refused to apologise and chose to face the punishment, which turned put to be a symbolic fine of Re 1 and the failure to pay it would lead to 3-month jail term and debarment from law practice for 3 years.,Tweeting two photos soon after the top court verdict, Bhushan wrote, "My lawyer and senior colleague Rajiv Dhavan contributed 1 Re immediately after the contempt judgement today which I gratefully accepted." He later said at a press conference that he would pay the fine adding that he reserved the right to challenge the conviction.&nbsp;,Bhushan, a lawyer of more than three decades' experience and 1.7 million followers on Twitter, seems to be living up to his Twitter bio that says,  "Do and say what is just fair and in public interest, regardless of immediate fallout.",Bhushan consistently taken up many issues of public interest, including environment, human rights and those involving key institutions such as the judiciary and its accountability. Since 1991, he has been involved in a campaign for judicial accountability to generate public opinion for putting in place credible legal institutions.,He was a founder member of the Aam Aadmi Party and was removed in 2015 for what the ruling party of Delhi said was "gross indiscipline and anti-party activities". Bhushan later co-founded Swaraj Abhiyan, a socio-political organisation.,The activist-lawyer is associated with various organisations including the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), and Transparency International (India). CPIL, represented by Bhushan, won a major victory in 2003 when the Supreme Court restrained the Union government from privatising Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum without the approval of Parliament.,Bhushan has been associated with a plethora of cases involving the functioning of the government an the judiciary-- be it the allocation of coal blocks, the Narmada rehabilitation plan, judicial appointments and the  MP Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS).,His latest showdown with the judiciary was over his comments against the Chief Justice. The case is related to two tweets posted by Bhushan on June 27 and 29. While the first one talked about an undeclared emergency and the role of the Supreme Court. The second was regarding Chief Justice SA Bobde who tried a Harley Davidson superbike in his hometown Nagpur, during the coronavirus outbreak.,The Supreme Court on Monday sentenced Bhushan,  to a fine of Rupee 1 in the contempt case for his tweets on the judiciary. The court, while delivering its verdict said, "Failure to deposit fine will lead to 3-month jail term and debarment from law practice for 3 years." The court also observed that freedom of speech can't be curtailed but the rights of others need to be respected.,A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai, and Krishna Murari delivered the ruling. In its last hearing, the Court had said that it was “painful” to read the justifications of Bhushan in connection with the case. “This is not the way a senior lawyer like Bhushan over 30 years of experience should behave,” Justice Arun Mishra observed. While the court had said that apology is a magical word that can heal a lot many things, Bhushan had said that apology would mean “contempt of his conscience.”

{\"time\":1598871674003,\"strCount\":3488,\"blocks\":[{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"A hint of a smile, while holding up a Re 1 coin, on activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan's face said it all. The 63-year-old, who had been held guilty of contempt by the Supreme Court, had earlier refused to apologise and chose to face the punishment, which turned put to be a symbolic fine of Re 1 and the failure to pay it would lead to 3-month jail term and debarment from law practice for 3 years.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Tweeting two photos soon after the top court verdict, Bhushan wrote, \\\"My lawyer and senior colleague Rajiv Dhavan contributed 1 Re immediately after the contempt judgement today which I gratefully accepted.\\\" He later said at a press conference that he would pay the fine adding that he reserved the right to challenge the conviction.&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Bhushan, a lawyer of more than three decades' experience and 1.7 million followers on Twitter, seems to be living up to his Twitter bio that says,  \\\"Do and say what is just fair and in public interest, regardless of immediate fallout.\\\"\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Bhushan consistently taken up many issues of public interest, including environment, human rights and those involving key institutions such as the judiciary and its accountability. Since 1991, he has been involved in a campaign for judicial accountability to generate public opinion for putting in place credible legal institutions.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"He was a founder member of the Aam Aadmi Party and was removed in 2015 for what the ruling party of Delhi said was \\\"gross indiscipline and anti-party activities\\\". Bhushan later co-founded Swaraj Abhiyan, a socio-political organisation.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The activist-lawyer is associated with various organisations including the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), and Transparency International (India). CPIL, represented by Bhushan, won a major victory in 2003 when the Supreme Court restrained the Union government from privatising Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum without the approval of Parliament.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Bhushan has been associated with a plethora of cases involving the functioning of the government an the judiciary-- be it the allocation of coal blocks, the Narmada rehabilitation plan, judicial appointments and the  MP Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS).\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"His latest showdown with the judiciary was over his comments against the Chief Justice. The case is related to two tweets posted by Bhushan on June 27 and 29. While the first one talked about an undeclared emergency and the role of the Supreme Court. The second was regarding Chief Justice SA Bobde who tried a Harley Davidson superbike in his hometown Nagpur, during the coronavirus outbreak.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The Supreme Court on Monday sentenced Bhushan,  to a fine of Rupee 1 in the contempt case for his tweets on the judiciary. The court, while delivering its verdict said, \\\"Failure to deposit fine will lead to 3-month jail term and debarment from law practice for 3 years.\\\" The court also observed that freedom of speech can't be curtailed but the rights of others need to be respected.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai, and Krishna Murari delivered the ruling. In its last hearing, the Court had said that it was “painful” to read the justifications of Bhushan in connection with the case. “This is not the way a senior lawyer like Bhushan over 30 years of experience should behave,” Justice Arun Mishra observed. While the court had said that apology is a magical word that can heal a lot many things, Bhushan had said that apology would mean “contempt of his conscience.”\"}}]}

Abhimanyu Kulkarni

<ul>
  <li>Prashant Bhusan has been fined Rs 1 in the contempt case for his tweets on the judiciary</li>
  <li>Failure to pay Rs 1 in fine would lead to 3-month jail term and debarment from law practice for 3 years</li>
  <li>Bhusan was a founding member of the Aam Aadmi Party</li>
</ul>

With 1 rupee coin and a smile, Prashant Bhushan wraps up the contempt case

The Supreme Court on Monday sentenced Prashant Bhushan to a fine of Rupee 1  in the contempt case for his tweets on the judiciary. The court, while delivering its verdict said, "Failure to deposit fine will lead to 3-month jail term and debarment from law practice for 3 years." The court also observed that freedom of speech can't be curtailed but the rights of others need to be respected.&nbsp;,Responding to the verdict, Bhushan said, "My lawyer and senior colleague Rajiv Dhavan contributed 1 Re immediately after the contempt judgement today,&nbsp; which I gratefully accepted."&nbsp;,A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari delivered the ruling. <a href="https://opoyi.com/supreme-court-reserves-judgement-on-prashant-bhushan-contempt-case">In its last hearing</a>, the Court had said that it was “painful” to read the justifications of Bhushan in connection with the case.,“This is not the way a senior lawyer like Bhushan over 30 years of experience should behave,” Justice Arun Mishra observed. While the court had said that <a href="https://opoyi.com/sc-likely-to-deliver-verdict-in-prashant-bhushan-contempt-case-today">apology is a magical word</a> that can heal a lot many things, Bhushan had said that apology would mean “contempt of his conscience.”,Rajeev Dhawan who represents Bhushan in the case had requested the court, to not “make Bhushan a martyr” and had asked it to let him go with a warning. <a href="https://opoyi.com/if-i-retract-a-statement-it-will-be-contempt-of-my-conscience-prashant-bhushan-to-sc">Attorney General KK Venugopal</a> also shared a similar view.&nbsp;,Bhushan was held guilty of <a href="https://opoyi.com/supreme-court-likely-to-hear-prashant-bhushans-contempt-case-today">contempt of court</a> on August 14. The case is related to two tweets posted by Bhushan on June 27 and 29. While the first one talked about an undeclared emergency and the role of the Supreme Court. The second was regarding Chief Justice SA Bobde who tried a Harley Davidson superbike in his hometown Nagpur, during the coronavirus outbreak.,The top court also has referred a 2009 contempt case against advocate Prashant Bhushan to an appropriate bench that will take up the matter on September 10.&nbsp;

{\"time\":1598862993075,\"strCount\":2246,\"blocks\":[{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The Supreme Court on Monday sentenced Prashant Bhushan to a fine of Rupee 1  in the contempt case for his tweets on the judiciary. The court, while delivering its verdict said, \\\"Failure to deposit fine will lead to 3-month jail term and debarment from law practice for 3 years.\\\" The court also observed that freedom of speech can't be curtailed but the rights of others need to be respected.&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Responding to the verdict, Bhushan said, \\\"My lawyer and senior colleague Rajiv Dhavan contributed 1 Re immediately after the contempt judgement today,&nbsp; which I gratefully accepted.\\\"&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari delivered the ruling. <a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/supreme-court-reserves-judgement-on-prashant-bhushan-contempt-case-410803/\\\">In its last hearing</a>, the Court had said that it was “painful” to read the justifications of Bhushan in connection with the case.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"“This is not the way a senior lawyer like Bhushan over 30 years of experience should behave,” Justice Arun Mishra observed. While the court had said that <a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/sc-likely-to-deliver-verdict-in-prashant-bhushan-contempt-case-today-369270/\\\">apology is a magical word</a> that can heal a lot many things, Bhushan had said that apology would mean “contempt of his conscience.”\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Rajeev Dhawan who represents Bhushan in the case had requested the court, to not “make Bhushan a martyr” and had asked it to let him go with a warning. <a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/if-i-retract-a-statement-it-will-be-contempt-of-my-conscience-prashant-bhushan-to-sc-432882/\\\">Attorney General KK Venugopal</a> also shared a similar view.&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Bhushan was held guilty of <a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/supreme-court-likely-to-hear-prashant-bhushans-contempt-case-today-502903/\\\">contempt of court</a> on August 14. The case is related to two tweets posted by Bhushan on June 27 and 29. While the first one talked about an undeclared emergency and the role of the Supreme Court. The second was regarding Chief Justice SA Bobde who tried a Harley Davidson superbike in his hometown Nagpur, during the coronavirus outbreak.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The top court also has referred a 2009 contempt case against advocate Prashant Bhushan to an appropriate bench that will take up the matter on September 10.&nbsp;\"}}]}

<ul>
  <li>In case of default, he will be barred from practicing for 3 years and will be imprisoned for 3 months</li>
  <li>A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari delivered the ruling</li>
  <li>Freedom of speech can't be curtailed but rights of others need to be respected: SC</li>
</ul>

SC imposes a fine of Re 1 on Prashant Bhushan in contempt case

The Supreme Court will pronounce on Monday the <a href="https://opoyi.com/supreme-court-to-pronounce-verdict-in-prashant-bhushan-contempt-case-on-august-31">quantum of punishment in the contempt of court</a> case against advocate Prashant Bhushan, for his tweets on the judiciary. The judgment is expected at around 10.30 am. The court had reserved its verdict on August 25th, after a heated argument at the end of which, Bhushan refused to apologise. ,A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, B R Gavai and Krishna Murari will deliver the ruling. In its last hearing, the Court had said that it was <a href="https://opoyi.com/supreme-court-reserves-judgement-on-prashant-bhushan-contempt-case">“painful” to read the justifications of Bhushan</a> in connection with the case. , “This is not the way a senior lawyer like Bhushan over 30 years of experience should behave,” Justice Arun Mishra observed. While the court had said that apology is a magical word that can heal a lot many things, Bhushan had said that apology would mean <a href="https://opoyi.com/if-i-retract-a-statement-it-will-be-contempt-of-my-conscience-prashant-bhushan-to-sc">“contempt of his conscience.” </a>,Rajeev Dhawan who represents Bhushan in the case had requested the court, to not “make Bhushan a martyr” and had asked it to let him go with a warning. Attorney General KK Venugopal had also agreed to Dhavan’s request. ,<a href="https://opoyi.com/sc-likely-to-deliver-verdict-in-prashant-bhushan-contempt-case-today">Ahead of the verdict</a>, 122 law students wrote to Supreme Court asking it to reconsider the judgment. More than 3,000 members of civil society including former judges, retired bureaucrats, journalists and lawyers had also criticised the Supreme Court’s judgment. ,Bhushan was <a href="https://opoyi.com/supreme-court-likely-to-hear-prashant-bhushans-contempt-case-today">held guilty of contempt of court</a> on August 14. The case is related to two tweets posted by Bhushan on June 27 and 29. While the first one talked about an undeclared emergency and the role of the Supreme Court. The second was regarding Chief Justice SA Bobde who tried a Harley Davidson superbike in his hometown Nagpur, during the coronavirus outbreak.

{\"time\":1598840253399,\"strCount\":2218,\"blocks\":[{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The Supreme Court will pronounce on Monday the <a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/supreme-court-to-pronounce-verdict-in-prashant-bhushan-contempt-case-on-august-31-292541/\\\">quantum of punishment in the contempt of court</a> case against advocate Prashant Bhushan, for his tweets on the judiciary. The judgment is expected at around 10.30 am. The court had reserved its verdict on August 25th, after a heated argument at the end of which, Bhushan refused to apologise. \"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, B R Gavai and Krishna Murari will deliver the ruling. In its last hearing, the Court had said that it was <a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/supreme-court-reserves-judgement-on-prashant-bhushan-contempt-case-410803/\\\">“painful” to read the justifications of Bhushan</a> in connection with the case. \"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\" “This is not the way a senior lawyer like Bhushan over 30 years of experience should behave,” Justice Arun Mishra observed. While the court had said that apology is a magical word that can heal a lot many things, Bhushan had said that apology would mean <a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/if-i-retract-a-statement-it-will-be-contempt-of-my-conscience-prashant-bhushan-to-sc-432882/\\\">“contempt of his conscience.” </a>\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Rajeev Dhawan who represents Bhushan in the case had requested the court, to not “make Bhushan a martyr” and had asked it to let him go with a warning. Attorney General KK Venugopal had also agreed to Dhavan’s request. \"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"<a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/sc-likely-to-deliver-verdict-in-prashant-bhushan-contempt-case-today-369270/\\\">Ahead of the verdict</a>, 122 law students wrote to Supreme Court asking it to reconsider the judgment. More than 3,000 members of civil society including former judges, retired bureaucrats, journalists and lawyers had also criticised the Supreme Court’s judgment. \"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Bhushan was <a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/supreme-court-likely-to-hear-prashant-bhushans-contempt-case-today-502903/\\\">held guilty of contempt of court</a> on August 14. The case is related to two tweets posted by Bhushan on June 27 and 29. While the first one talked about an undeclared emergency and the role of the Supreme Court. The second was regarding Chief Justice SA Bobde who tried a Harley Davidson superbike in his hometown Nagpur, during the coronavirus outbreak.\"}}]}

<ul>
  <li>The judgment is expected at around 10.30 am.</li>
  <li>Prashant Bhushan had refused to apologise</li>
  <li>A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari will deliver the ruling</li>
</ul>

SC to pronounce quantum of sentence in Prashant Bhushan contempt case today

The Supreme Court will announce&nbsp;its order on the point of sentence against lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan in contempt case on August 31, reported news agency ANI. The apex court on Tuesday reserved&nbsp;<a href="https://opoyi.com/supreme-court-reserves-judgement-on-prashant-bhushan-contempt-case">its judgment </a>in a case filed against Bhushan for his tweets against Chief Justice SA Bobde .&nbsp;,The apex court on Tuesday gave 30 minutes to Bhushan to reconsider his stance of not retracting his statement and his&nbsp;<a href="https://opoyi.com/if-i-retract-a-statement-it-will-be-contempt-of-my-conscience-prashant-bhushan-to-sc">refusal to apologise</a>&nbsp;over his tweets.&nbsp;Bhushan refused to offer an apology for his two tweets, saying they represented beliefs which he continued to hold.,Bhushan was held guilty of criminal contempt on August 14 for two derogatory tweets against the judiciary, saying they cannot be said to be a fair criticism of the functioning of the judiciary made in the public interest.,He could face imprisonment of up to six months or with a fine of up to Rs 2,000 or with both as punishment.,The bench, which also consisted of&nbsp;Justices B R Gavai and Krishna Murari, said Bhushan had made disparaging remarks against the judiciary even in his affidavit, adding that there was no point in giving advice to a person who does not think he did anything wrong.,&nbsp;“A person should realise mistake, we gave Bhushan time but he says he will not apologise," it said.,On August 20, the top court had granted time till August 24 for Bhushan to reconsider his “defiant statement” refusing to apologise and tender “unconditional apology” for contemptuous tweets.,In its 108-page verdict, the top court said, “The tweets which are based on the distorted facts, in our considered view, amount to committing criminal contempt.”

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<ul>
  <li>SC will announce its order on the point of sentence against Bhushan on Monday</li>
  <li>The apex court reserved its judgment on Tuesday</li>
  <li>The SC was hearing a suo moto case against Bhushan on his tweets against Chief Justice SA Bobde</li>
</ul>

SC to pronounce verdict in Prashant Bhushan contempt case on August 31

The Supreme
Court on Tuesday reserved its judgement in the criminal contempt case against lawyer-activist
Prashant Bhushan,&nbsp; reported ANI. ,Earlier
today, the apex court gave 30 minutes for Bhushan to reconsider his stance of not
retracting his statement and his <a href="https://opoyi.com/if-i-retract-a-statement-it-will-be-contempt-of-my-conscience-prashant-bhushan-to-sc">refusal to apologise</a> over his tweets against Chief
Justice SA Bobde, according to a PTI report.,Attorney
General KK Venugopal urged Bhushan to withdraw all his statements and express
regret after the bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra sought his views on the
matter. He further stated that the court should warn him and take a
compassionate view.,Bhushan
refused to offer an apology for his two tweets, saying they represented beliefs
which he continued to hold. ,“Bhushan
says the Supreme Court has collapsed, is it not objectionable,” the bench
asked.,Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://opoyi.com/defer-sentence-heavens-wont-fall-says-prashant-bhushan-top-court-rejects-plea">'Defer sentence... heavens won't fall', says Prashant Bhushan; top court gives him 2 days time</a>,The bench, which also consisted of&nbsp;Justices B R Gavai and Krishna Murari, said Bhushan had made disparaging remarks against the judiciary even in his affidavit, adding that there
was no point in giving advice to a person who does not think he did anything
wrong. ,&nbsp;“A person should be realise mistake, we gave
Bhushan time but he says he will not apologize," it said.,On August
20, the top court had granted time till August 24 for Bhushan to reconsider his
“defiant statement” refusing to apologise and tender “unconditional apology”
for contemptuous tweets.,In its
108-page verdict, the top court said, “The tweets which are based on the distorted
facts, in our considered view, amount to committing criminal contempt.”,Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://opoyi.com/held-guilty-of-contempt-prashant-bhushan-seeks-deferment-of-sentence-hearing">Held guilty of contempt, Prashant Bhushan seeks deferment of sentence hearing</a>,Bhushan was
held guilty of criminal contempt on August 14 for two derogatory tweets against
the judiciary, saying they cannot be said to be a fair criticism of the
functioning of the judiciary made in the public interest.,He faces
imprisonment of up to six months or with a fine of up to Rs 2,000 or with both
as punishment.

{\"time\":1598354596953,\"strCount\":2420,\"blocks\":[{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The Supreme\\nCourt on Tuesday reserved its judgement in the criminal contempt case against lawyer-activist\\nPrashant Bhushan,&nbsp; reported ANI. \"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Earlier\\ntoday, the apex court gave 30 minutes for Bhushan to reconsider his stance of not\\nretracting his statement and his <a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/if-i-retract-a-statement-it-will-be-contempt-of-my-conscience-prashant-bhushan-to-sc-432882/\\\">refusal to apologise</a> over his tweets against Chief\\nJustice SA Bobde, according to a PTI report.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Attorney\\nGeneral KK Venugopal urged Bhushan to withdraw all his statements and express\\nregret after the bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra sought his views on the\\nmatter. He further stated that the court should warn him and take a\\ncompassionate view.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Bhushan\\nrefused to offer an apology for his two tweets, saying they represented beliefs\\nwhich he continued to hold. \"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"“Bhushan\\nsays the Supreme Court has collapsed, is it not objectionable,” the bench\\nasked.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Also Read:&nbsp;<a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/defer-sentence-heavens-wont-fall-says-prashant-bhushan-top-court-rejects-plea-476565/\\\">'Defer sentence... heavens won't fall', says Prashant Bhushan; top court gives him 2 days time</a>\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The bench, which also consisted of&nbsp;Justices B R Gavai and Krishna Murari, said Bhushan had made disparaging remarks against the judiciary even in his affidavit, adding that there\\nwas no point in giving advice to a person who does not think he did anything\\nwrong. \"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"&nbsp;“A person should be realise mistake, we gave\\nBhushan time but he says he will not apologize,\\\" it said.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"On August\\n20, the top court had granted time till August 24 for Bhushan to reconsider his\\n“defiant statement” refusing to apologise and tender “unconditional apology”\\nfor contemptuous tweets.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"In its\\n108-page verdict, the top court said, “The tweets which are based on the distorted\\nfacts, in our considered view, amount to committing criminal contempt.”\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Also Read:&nbsp;<a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/held-guilty-of-contempt-prashant-bhushan-seeks-deferment-of-sentence-hearing-378180/\\\">Held guilty of contempt, Prashant Bhushan seeks deferment of sentence hearing</a>\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Bhushan was\\nheld guilty of criminal contempt on August 14 for two derogatory tweets against\\nthe judiciary, saying they cannot be said to be a fair criticism of the\\nfunctioning of the judiciary made in the public interest.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"He faces\\nimprisonment of up to six months or with a fine of up to Rs 2,000 or with both\\nas punishment.\"}}]}

<ul>
  <li>The Supreme Court gave 30 minutes for Prashant Bhushan to reconsider his stance of not issuing an apology</li>
  <li>Attorney General KK Venugopal urged Bhushan to withdraw his statements</li>
  <li>Venugopal advised the court to warn Bhushan and take a compassionate view</li>
</ul>

Supreme Court reserves judgement on Prashant Bhushan contempt case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred the hearing in the 2009 contempt case against lawyer Prashant Bhushan for his tweets against former SC judges to September 10, reported ANI. The apex court requested the Chief Justice, to place the case before an appropriate bench.&nbsp;,A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra was told by senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for Prashant Bhushan, that there were as many as 10 questions of constitutional importance have been raised by him and they needed to be dealt by a Constitution bench.,"These are broader issues which need to be deliberated at length. We can have some amicus and it can be adjudicated by an appropriate bench," said the bench, which also comprised Justices B R Gavai and Krishna Murari.,The matter is pending for a long time and it be listed before the appropriate bench on September 10, the bench said in a hearing conducted through video conferencing.,Justice Mishra, who is retiring on September 2, said the matter will need time and observed "let us leave this to an appropriate bench" .,In&nbsp;his written
submissions to the apex court on Monday, Bhushan had said that there should not
be any attempt to coerce him into making an apology for his two tweets against
the judiciary saying what he expressed represented his bona fide belief which
he continued to hold. He asked the court to recall its August 14 judgment
holding him guilty of contempt of court, as similar statements were made by
retired judges and others.,<b>ALSO:&nbsp;</b><a href="https://opoyiorchestra.opoyi.com/postUpdate/1/mTqocv8wSEfX">Prashant Bhushan refuses to apologise to SC in contempt of court case</a>,An insincere apology would amount to the contempt of my
conscience and of an institution, Bhushan said in his supplementary statement
filed in the suo motu contempt case against him by the top court, taking note
of advocate Anuj Saxena's complaint.,An apology for expression of beliefs, conditional or
unconditional, would be insincere, he said.,On August 20, the top court had granted time till August 24
to Bhushan to reconsider his “defiant statement” refusing to apologise and
tender “unconditional apology” for contemptuous tweets against the judiciary
and rejected his submission that quantum of punishment be decided by another
bench.,Bhushan said as an officer of court he believes as a duty to
speak up when he believes there is a deviation from its sterling record.

{\"time\":1598341821583,\"strCount\":2428,\"blocks\":[{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred the hearing in the 2009 contempt case against lawyer Prashant Bhushan for his tweets against former SC judges to September 10, reported ANI. The apex court requested the Chief Justice, to place the case before an appropriate bench.&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra was told by senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for Prashant Bhushan, that there were as many as 10 questions of constitutional importance have been raised by him and they needed to be dealt by a Constitution bench.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"\\\"These are broader issues which need to be deliberated at length. We can have some amicus and it can be adjudicated by an appropriate bench,\\\" said the bench, which also comprised Justices B R Gavai and Krishna Murari.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The matter is pending for a long time and it be listed before the appropriate bench on September 10, the bench said in a hearing conducted through video conferencing.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Justice Mishra, who is retiring on September 2, said the matter will need time and observed \\\"let us leave this to an appropriate bench\\\" .\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"In&nbsp;his written\\nsubmissions to the apex court on Monday, Bhushan had said that there should not\\nbe any attempt to coerce him into making an apology for his two tweets against\\nthe judiciary saying what he expressed represented his bona fide belief which\\nhe continued to hold. He asked the court to recall its August 14 judgment\\nholding him guilty of contempt of court, as similar statements were made by\\nretired judges and others.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"<b>ALSO:&nbsp;</b><a href=\\\"https://opoyiorchestra.opoyi.com/postUpdate/1/mTqocv8wSEfX\\\">Prashant Bhushan refuses to apologise to SC in contempt of court case</a>\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"An insincere apology would amount to the contempt of my\\nconscience and of an institution, Bhushan said in his supplementary statement\\nfiled in the suo motu contempt case against him by the top court, taking note\\nof advocate Anuj Saxena's complaint.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"An apology for expression of beliefs, conditional or\\nunconditional, would be insincere, he said.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"On August 20, the top court had granted time till August 24\\nto Bhushan to reconsider his “defiant statement” refusing to apologise and\\ntender “unconditional apology” for contemptuous tweets against the judiciary\\nand rejected his submission that quantum of punishment be decided by another\\nbench.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Bhushan said as an officer of court he believes as a duty to\\nspeak up when he believes there is a deviation from its sterling record.\"}}]}

<ul>
  <li>Bhushan has been convicted of criminal contempt</li>
  <li>Bhushan on Monday said, that there should not be any attempt to coerce him into making an apology</li>
  <li>"An insincere apology would amount to the contempt of my conscience," he said</li>
</ul>

Prashant Bhushan's contempt case to be heard by another bench, listed for Sept 10

Joy Tirkey

Activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who was held guilty of
contempt of court for his statement on Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, on Monday, refused to “retract”
his statement and apologise for his two tweets. “If I retract a statement before this court
that I otherwise believe to be true or offer an insincere apology, that in my
eyes would amount to contempt of my conscience and of an institution that I
hold in highest esteem,” Bhushan said.,Bhushan filed a supplementary reply in the suo motu contempt
proceeding before Supreme Court for his tweets against former SC judges.,"I believe that SC is the last bastion of hope for
protection of fundamental rights," he said,Bhushan said as an
officer of court he believes it is a duty to speak up when he believes there is a
deviation from its sterling record.,“Therefore I expressed
myself in good faith, not to malign the Supreme Court or any particular Chief
Justice, but to offer constructive criticism so that the court can arrest any
drift away from its long-standing role as a guardian of the Constitution and
custodian of peoples’ rights,” he said.,He said, “My tweets
represented this bonafide belief that I continue to hold. Public expression of
these beliefs was I believe, in line with my higher obligations as a citizen
and a loyal officer of this court. Therefore, an apology for expression of
these beliefs, conditional or unconditional, would be insincere.”,Bhushan
further said that an apology cannot be a mere incantation and any apology has
to, as the court has itself put it, be sincerely made.,“This is especially so
when I have made the statements bonafide and pleaded truths with full details,
which have not been dealt with by the Court,” he said.,On August 20, the top
court had granted time till August 24 to Bhushan to reconsider his “defiant
statement” refusing to apologise and tender “unconditional apology” for
contemptuous tweets against the judiciary and rejected his submission that
quantum of punishment be decided by another bench.,The apex court, on
August 14, had held Bhushan guilty of criminal contempt for his two derogatory
tweets against the judiciary saying they cannot be said to be a fair criticism
of the functioning of the judiciary made in the public interest.,He faces imprisonment of up to six months or with a fine of up to Rs 2,000 or with both
as punishment.

{\"time\":1598258423698,\"strCount\":2362,\"blocks\":[{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who was held guilty of\\ncontempt of court for his statement on Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, on Monday, refused to “retract”\\nhis statement and apologise for his two tweets. “If I retract a statement before this court\\nthat I otherwise believe to be true or offer an insincere apology, that in my\\neyes would amount to contempt of my conscience and of an institution that I\\nhold in highest esteem,” Bhushan said.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Bhushan filed a supplementary reply in the suo motu contempt\\nproceeding before Supreme Court for his tweets against former SC judges.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"\\\"I believe that SC is the last bastion of hope for\\nprotection of fundamental rights,\\\" he said\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Bhushan said as an\\nofficer of court he believes it is a duty to speak up when he believes there is a\\ndeviation from its sterling record.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"“Therefore I expressed\\nmyself in good faith, not to malign the Supreme Court or any particular Chief\\nJustice, but to offer constructive criticism so that the court can arrest any\\ndrift away from its long-standing role as a guardian of the Constitution and\\ncustodian of peoples’ rights,” he said.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"He said, “My tweets\\nrepresented this bonafide belief that I continue to hold. Public expression of\\nthese beliefs was I believe, in line with my higher obligations as a citizen\\nand a loyal officer of this court. Therefore, an apology for expression of\\nthese beliefs, conditional or unconditional, would be insincere.”\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Bhushan\\nfurther said that an apology cannot be a mere incantation and any apology has\\nto, as the court has itself put it, be sincerely made.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"“This is especially so\\nwhen I have made the statements bonafide and pleaded truths with full details,\\nwhich have not been dealt with by the Court,” he said.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"On August 20, the top\\ncourt had granted time till August 24 to Bhushan to reconsider his “defiant\\nstatement” refusing to apologise and tender “unconditional apology” for\\ncontemptuous tweets against the judiciary and rejected his submission that\\nquantum of punishment be decided by another bench.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The apex court, on\\nAugust 14, had held Bhushan guilty of criminal contempt for his two derogatory\\ntweets against the judiciary saying they cannot be said to be a fair criticism\\nof the functioning of the judiciary made in the public interest.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"He faces imprisonment of up to six months or with a fine of up to Rs 2,000 or with both\\nas punishment.\"}}]}

<ul>
  <li>Prashant Bhushan was found guilty of contempt of court</li>
  <li>The Supreme Court had asked Prashant Bhushan for an unconditional apology</li>
  <li>Bhushan had tweeted against CJI SA Bobde</li>
</ul>

Prashant Bhushan refuses to apologise to SC in contempt of court case

World

The Supreme Court of
India held activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt of court for
his contemptuous tweets against the judiciary. Following the ruling, the apex
court granted Bhushan time till August 24 to reconsider his defiant statement
of refusing to apologise and tender unconditional apology for his tweets.,The top court, while
reserving its verdict on the quantum of sentence to be awarded to Bhushan in
the case, also rejected his submission seeking deferment of the hearing till
his yet-to-be-filed review plea against its verdict, which held him guilty of
contempt of the court is decided, reported news agency PTI.,<b>Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://opoyi.com/defer-sentence-heavens-wont-fall-says-prashant-bhushan-top-court-rejects-plea">'Defer sentence... heavens won't fall', says Prashant Bhushan; top court gives him 2 days time</a></b>,A bench headed by
Justice Arun Mishra on August 20 said, that it may now hear the matter on August
25 for considering the “unconditional apology”, if filed by Bhushan. ,“Arguments have been
heard in the main matter, on sentencing. Order reserved. We have given time to
the contemnor (Bhushan) to submit unconditional apology, if he so desires. Let
it be filed by August 24. In case, apology is submitted, the case to be posted
for consideration on the same, on August 25,” the bench said in the order.,Bhushan had submitted
to the court that his case be transferred to another bench. To which, the court
assured him that it will be fair to him and the punishment will not be enforced
till his review plea against the conviction is decided.,<b>Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://opoyi.com/held-guilty-of-contempt-prashant-bhushan-seeks-deferment-of-sentence-hearing">Held guilty of contempt, Prashant Bhushan seeks deferment of sentence hearing</a></b>,“In the event we
decide to impose any kind of punishment, we assure you that it would not be in
operation till the review is decided. Don't worry, we will be fair to you, even
if you are not fair to us,” a bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, B R Gavai
and Krishna Murari said.,Bhushan faces imprisonment
of up to six months or with a fine of up to Rs 2,000 or with both as
punishment.,“We can give you time
and it is better if you (Bhushan) reconsider it. Think over it. We will give
you two-three days’ time,” the bench told Bhushan, who held his ground by
refusing to apologise for the tweets.,“I did not tweet in a
fit of absence mindedness. It would be insincere and contemptuous on my part to
offer an apology for the tweets that expressed what was and continues to be my
bona fide belief," Bhushan said.,On August 14, in its
108-page verdict, the top court had said: “The tweets which are based on the
distorted facts, in our considered view, amount to committing criminal
contempt.”

{\"time\":1598235114474,\"strCount\":2810,\"blocks\":[{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The Supreme Court of\\nIndia held activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt of court for\\nhis contemptuous tweets against the judiciary. Following the ruling, the apex\\ncourt granted Bhushan time till August 24 to reconsider his defiant statement\\nof refusing to apologise and tender unconditional apology for his tweets.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The top court, while\\nreserving its verdict on the quantum of sentence to be awarded to Bhushan in\\nthe case, also rejected his submission seeking deferment of the hearing till\\nhis yet-to-be-filed review plea against its verdict, which held him guilty of\\ncontempt of the court is decided, reported news agency PTI.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"<b>Also read:&nbsp;<a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/defer-sentence-heavens-wont-fall-says-prashant-bhushan-top-court-rejects-plea-476565/\\\">'Defer sentence... heavens won't fall', says Prashant Bhushan; top court gives him 2 days time</a></b>\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"A bench headed by\\nJustice Arun Mishra on August 20 said, that it may now hear the matter on August\\n25 for considering the “unconditional apology”, if filed by Bhushan. \"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"“Arguments have been\\nheard in the main matter, on sentencing. Order reserved. We have given time to\\nthe contemnor (Bhushan) to submit unconditional apology, if he so desires. Let\\nit be filed by August 24. In case, apology is submitted, the case to be posted\\nfor consideration on the same, on August 25,” the bench said in the order.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Bhushan had submitted\\nto the court that his case be transferred to another bench. To which, the court\\nassured him that it will be fair to him and the punishment will not be enforced\\ntill his review plea against the conviction is decided.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"<b>Also read:&nbsp;<a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/held-guilty-of-contempt-prashant-bhushan-seeks-deferment-of-sentence-hearing-378180/\\\">Held guilty of contempt, Prashant Bhushan seeks deferment of sentence hearing</a></b>\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"“In the event we\\ndecide to impose any kind of punishment, we assure you that it would not be in\\noperation till the review is decided. Don't worry, we will be fair to you, even\\nif you are not fair to us,” a bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, B R Gavai\\nand Krishna Murari said.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Bhushan faces imprisonment\\nof up to six months or with a fine of up to Rs 2,000 or with both as\\npunishment.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"“We can give you time\\nand it is better if you (Bhushan) reconsider it. Think over it. We will give\\nyou two-three days’ time,” the bench told Bhushan, who held his ground by\\nrefusing to apologise for the tweets.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"“I did not tweet in a\\nfit of absence mindedness. It would be insincere and contemptuous on my part to\\noffer an apology for the tweets that expressed what was and continues to be my\\nbona fide belief,\\\" Bhushan said.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"On August 14, in its\\n108-page verdict, the top court had said: “The tweets which are based on the\\ndistorted facts, in our considered view, amount to committing criminal\\ncontempt.”\"}}]}

<ul>
  <li>Prashant Bhushan was found guilty of contempt of court</li>
  <li>Bhushan has sought deferment till a review petition is filed and considered by the court</li>
  <li>Bhushan had submitted to the court, that his case be transferred to another bench</li>
</ul>

Supreme Court likely to hear Prashant Bhushan's contempt case today

The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan's plea seeking deferment of hearing on his sentencing till the time his review petition against the August 14 conviction in contempt case is taken up. The court, however, gave him&nbsp; '2-3 days to reconsider his defiant statement'.,The top court on August 14 held Bhushan guilty of criminal contempt for his derogatory tweets against the judiciary saying they cannot be said to be a fair criticism of the functioning of the judiciary made in the public interest,During the hearing, Dushyant Dave, the lawyer for Prashant Bhushan, said, "The appeal is correct under judicial review and the sentence can be deferred. Heaven is not going to fall, if the sentence will be deferred.",A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra assured Bhushan that no punishment will be acted upon till his review against the order convicting him is decided. "Even if we punish you, it won't be activated, till the decision on review. We'll be fair to you. We feel you are trying to avoid this bench.",The bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavi and Krishna Murari, told Dave that he is asking them to commit an “act of impropriety” by saying that the argument on sentencing be heard by another bench. ,“You are asking us to commit an act of impropriety that arguments on sentencing should be heard by another bench”, the bench said It added: “Has it been ever done that hearing on sentencing has been undertaken by the other bench when the main bench is existing?”,The bench told Attorney General K K Venugopal that it will first hear Bhushan on the issue of sentencing. When Dave said that Venugopal should be allowed to argue first, the bench said, “Don’t remind us of the professional norms”.

{\"time\":1597912005861,\"strCount\":1744,\"blocks\":[{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan's plea seeking deferment of hearing on his sentencing till the time his review petition against the August 14 conviction in contempt case is taken up. The court, however, gave him&nbsp; '2-3 days to reconsider his defiant statement'.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The top court on August 14 held Bhushan guilty of criminal contempt for his derogatory tweets against the judiciary saying they cannot be said to be a fair criticism of the functioning of the judiciary made in the public interest\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"During the hearing, Dushyant Dave, the lawyer for Prashant Bhushan, said, \\\"The appeal is correct under judicial review and the sentence can be deferred. Heaven is not going to fall, if the sentence will be deferred.\\\"\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra assured Bhushan that no punishment will be acted upon till his review against the order convicting him is decided. \\\"Even if we punish you, it won't be activated, till the decision on review. We'll be fair to you. We feel you are trying to avoid this bench.\\\"\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavi and Krishna Murari, told Dave that he is asking them to commit an “act of impropriety” by saying that the argument on sentencing be heard by another bench. \"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"“You are asking us to commit an act of impropriety that arguments on sentencing should be heard by another bench”, the bench said It added: “Has it been ever done that hearing on sentencing has been undertaken by the other bench when the main bench is existing?”\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The bench told Attorney General K K Venugopal that it will first hear Bhushan on the issue of sentencing. When Dave said that Venugopal should be allowed to argue first, the bench said, “Don’t remind us of the professional norms”.\"}}]}

<ul>
  <li>Apex court rejects Prasant Bhushan's plea in contempt case</li>
  <li>Supreme Court gives Bhushan '2-3 days reconsider his statement'</li>
  <li>SC on August 14 held Bhushan guilty of criminal contempt for his derogatory tweets</li>
</ul>

'Defer sentence... heavens won't fall', says Prashant Bhushan; top court  gives him 2 days time



Activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Wednesday filed an application in the Supreme Court seeking deferment of hearing on his sentencing in a contempt case. This comes days after the top court held him guilty of criminal contempt for his two derogatory tweets against the Chief Justice of India and his four predecessors,Bhushan's application seeks deferment till a review petition is filed and considered by the court, reports ANI. While referring to the tweets by Bhushan, in an earlier hearing, the apex court had said these statements are prima facie capable of "undermining the dignity and authority" of the institution of the Supreme Court in general and the office of Chief Justice of India in particular, in the eyes of the public at large.,The SC had held Prashant Bhushan guilty of criminal contempt in its August 14 order and had fixed August 20 as the day of pronouncing the sentence.,Defending his tweets, Bhushan, in a 142-page affidavit, had said that they were against the judges regarding their conduct in their personal capacity and they did not obstruct the administration of justice. On July 22, the top court had issued a show-cause notice to Bhushan after initiating the criminal contempt against him after taking note of a petition.,He referred to several apex court judgements, speeches of former and serving judges on contempt of court and the “stifling of dissent” in a democracy and his views on judicial actions in some cases.



{\"time\":1597829092705,\"strCount\":1456,\"blocks\":[{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"\\n\\nActivist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Wednesday filed an application in the Supreme Court seeking deferment of hearing on his sentencing in a contempt case. This comes days after the top court held him guilty of criminal contempt for his two derogatory tweets against the Chief Justice of India and his four predecessors\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Bhushan's application seeks deferment till a review petition is filed and considered by the court, reports ANI. While referring to the tweets by Bhushan, in an earlier hearing, the apex court had said these statements are prima facie capable of \\\"undermining the dignity and authority\\\" of the institution of the Supreme Court in general and the office of Chief Justice of India in particular, in the eyes of the public at large.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The SC had held Prashant Bhushan guilty of criminal contempt in its August 14 order and had fixed August 20 as the day of pronouncing the sentence.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Defending his tweets, Bhushan, in a 142-page affidavit, had said that they were against the judges regarding their conduct in their personal capacity and they did not obstruct the administration of justice. On July 22, the top court had issued a show-cause notice to Bhushan after initiating the criminal contempt against him after taking note of a petition.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"He referred to several apex court judgements, speeches of former and serving judges on contempt of court and the “stifling of dissent” in a democracy and his views on judicial actions in some cases.\\n\\n\"}}]}

<ul>
  <li>Bhushan has sought deferment till a review petition is filed and considered by the court</li>
  <li>The SC had held Bhushan guilty of criminal contempt in its August 14 order</li>
  <li>On July 22, the top court had issued a show-cause notice to Bhushan</li>
</ul>

Held guilty of contempt, Prashant Bhushan seeks deferment of sentence hearing

The Supreme Court on Friday held activist-lawyer <a href="http://opoyi.com/arun-shourie-n-ram-prashant-bhushan-withdraw-their-plea-in-contempt-of-courts-act-case">Prashant
Bhushan</a> guilty of contempt for his two derogatory tweets against the Chief
Justice of India and his four predecessors, reported PTI. A bench, headed by Justice Arun Mishra, said the quantum of sentence to be awarded to Bhushan will be announced on August 20.,Earlier on August 5, the apex court had reserved its verdict
in the matter after <a href="http://opoyi.com/further-hearing-needed-in-2009-contempt-case-against-bhushan-tejpal-sc">Bhushan defended two of his tweets</a>. He said that the tweets
were against the judges regarding their conduct in their personal capacity and
they did not obstruct the administration of justice.,On July 22, the top court had issued a show-cause notice to
Bhushan after initiating the criminal contempt against him after taking note of
a petition.,While referring to the tweets by Bhushan, the apex court had
earlier said these statements are prima facie capable of "undermining the
dignity and authority" of the institution of the Supreme Court in general and the office of Chief Justice of India in particular, in the eyes of the public at large Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for Bhushan in the matter had said, “The two tweets were not against the institution”.,Bhushan has made an immense contribution to the development of
jurisprudence and there are “at least 50 judgments to his credit”, Dave had
said, adding that the court has appreciated his contributions in cases like 2G
scam, coal block allocation and in mining matters.,Referring to the ADM Jabalpur case on the suspension of
fundamental rights during the Emergency, the senior advocate had said that even
“extremely uncharitable” remarks against the judges were made and no contempt
proceedings were made out.,In a 142-page reply affidavit filed in the matter, Bhushan
had stood by his two tweets and had said the expression of opinion, “however
outspoken, disagreeable or unpalatable to some”, cannot constitute contempt of
court.,Bhushan, in the affidavit, has referred to several apex
court judgements, speeches of former and serving judges on contempt of court
and the “stifling of dissent” in a democracy and his views on judicial actions
in some cases.,Preventing citizens from demanding accountability and
reforms and advocating for the same by generating public opinion is not a
''reasonable restriction'', the affidavit had said, adding that the Article 129
cannot be pressed into service to stifle bonafide criticism.

{\"time\":1597389090040,\"strCount\":2617,\"blocks\":[{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The Supreme Court on Friday held activist-lawyer <a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/india/arun-shourie-n-ram-prashant-bhushan-withdraw-their-plea-in-contempt-of-courts-act-case-458567/\\\">Prashant\\nBhushan</a> guilty of contempt for his two derogatory tweets against the Chief\\nJustice of India and his four predecessors, reported PTI. A bench, headed by Justice Arun Mishra, said the quantum of sentence to be awarded to Bhushan will be announced on August 20.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Earlier on August 5, the apex court had reserved its verdict\\nin the matter after <a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/wires/presstrustofindia/further-hearing-needed-in-2009-contempt-case-against-bhushan-tejpal-sc-283577/\\\">Bhushan defended two of his tweets</a>. He said that the tweets\\nwere against the judges regarding their conduct in their personal capacity and\\nthey did not obstruct the administration of justice.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"On July 22, the top court had issued a show-cause notice to\\nBhushan after initiating the criminal contempt against him after taking note of\\na petition.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"While referring to the tweets by Bhushan, the apex court had\\nearlier said these statements are prima facie capable of \\\"undermining the\\ndignity and authority\\\" of the institution of the Supreme Court in general and the office of Chief Justice of India in particular, in the eyes of the public at large Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for Bhushan in the matter had said, “The two tweets were not against the institution”.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Bhushan has made an immense contribution to the development of\\njurisprudence and there are “at least 50 judgments to his credit”, Dave had\\nsaid, adding that the court has appreciated his contributions in cases like 2G\\nscam, coal block allocation and in mining matters.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Referring to the ADM Jabalpur case on the suspension of\\nfundamental rights during the Emergency, the senior advocate had said that even\\n“extremely uncharitable” remarks against the judges were made and no contempt\\nproceedings were made out.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"In a 142-page reply affidavit filed in the matter, Bhushan\\nhad stood by his two tweets and had said the expression of opinion, “however\\noutspoken, disagreeable or unpalatable to some”, cannot constitute contempt of\\ncourt.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Bhushan, in the affidavit, has referred to several apex\\ncourt judgements, speeches of former and serving judges on contempt of court\\nand the “stifling of dissent” in a democracy and his views on judicial actions\\nin some cases.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Preventing citizens from demanding accountability and\\nreforms and advocating for the same by generating public opinion is not a\\n''reasonable restriction'', the affidavit had said, adding that the Article 129\\ncannot be pressed into service to stifle bonafide criticism.\"}}]}

<ul>
  <li>The SC has set August 20 as the next date of hearing&nbsp;</li>
  <li>He was held guilty of contempt for his tweets against the CJI</li>
  <li>The top court had issued a show-case notice to Bhushan on July 22</li>
</ul>

Prashant Bhushan held guilty of contempt of court for tweets against CJI

The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed former Union minister Arun Shourie, veteran journalist N Ram and activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan to withdraw their plea challenging the constitutional validity of Section 2(1)(c) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.&nbsp;,The bench&nbsp;comprising Justices B R Gavai, Krishna Murari and&nbsp;headed by Justice Arun Mishra&nbsp;allowed the petition to be withdrawn with liberty to the petitioners to approach the appropriate judicial forum, except the apex court.&nbsp;,The bench was informed by senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, who represents the petitioners, that they wish to withdraw the plea as several petitions on the same issue are pending before the apex court and they do not want their plea to be "entangled" with them. Dhavan informed that at this stage the petitioners want to withdraw the plea with liberty to approach the top court again, maybe after two months.,Ram, Shourie and Bhushan had challenged the constitutional validity of a legal provision dealing with criminal contempt for "scandalizing the court", saying it was violation of freedom of speech and right to equality.,On August 8, an official source told PTI that the apex court administration had called for an explanation from officials concerned over the listing of the plea for hearing on August 10 before another bench of the top court comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and KM Joseph, but the matter was dropped the same day.&nbsp;,Justice Arun Mishra is also dealing two separate contempt of court cases against Bhushan. According to top court officials,&nbsp;Shourie, Ram and Bhushan also moved an application seeking stay on the proceedings in the two contempt cases pending against the activist lawyer.,The official, said on August 10, "It is a cardinal principle of law that a coordinate bench cannot stay the proceedings or on-going cases, which are pending before other similar bench. This would have created a problem as one court cannot stay the proceedings of other court having the same jurisdiction."&nbsp;,The top court on August 10 had said further hearing was required in the 2009 criminal contempt case against Bhushan and journalist Tarun Tejpal to examine whether comments on "corruption" against judges per se amounted to contempt or not.,The provision that has been challenged as a violation of&nbsp;freedom of speech and expression defines what constitutes criminal contempt and says that if by way of publication of words, the dignity of the courts is lowered and if they scandalize the courts then the offence of contempt of court is deemed to have been committed.

{\"time\":1597307461587,\"strCount\":2607,\"blocks\":[{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed former Union minister Arun Shourie, veteran journalist N Ram and activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan to withdraw their plea challenging the constitutional validity of Section 2(1)(c) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The bench&nbsp;comprising Justices B R Gavai, Krishna Murari and&nbsp;headed by Justice Arun Mishra&nbsp;allowed the petition to be withdrawn with liberty to the petitioners to approach the appropriate judicial forum, except the apex court.&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The bench was informed by senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, who represents the petitioners, that they wish to withdraw the plea as several petitions on the same issue are pending before the apex court and they do not want their plea to be \\\"entangled\\\" with them. Dhavan informed that at this stage the petitioners want to withdraw the plea with liberty to approach the top court again, maybe after two months.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Ram, Shourie and Bhushan had challenged the constitutional validity of a legal provision dealing with criminal contempt for \\\"scandalizing the court\\\", saying it was violation of freedom of speech and right to equality.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"On August 8, an official source told PTI that the apex court administration had called for an explanation from officials concerned over the listing of the plea for hearing on August 10 before another bench of the top court comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and KM Joseph, but the matter was dropped the same day.&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Justice Arun Mishra is also dealing two separate contempt of court cases against Bhushan. According to top court officials,&nbsp;Shourie, Ram and Bhushan also moved an application seeking stay on the proceedings in the two contempt cases pending against the activist lawyer.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The official, said on August 10, \\\"It is a cardinal principle of law that a coordinate bench cannot stay the proceedings or on-going cases, which are pending before other similar bench. This would have created a problem as one court cannot stay the proceedings of other court having the same jurisdiction.\\\"&nbsp;\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The top court on August 10 had said further hearing was required in the 2009 criminal contempt case against Bhushan and journalist Tarun Tejpal to examine whether comments on \\\"corruption\\\" against judges per se amounted to contempt or not.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The provision that has been challenged as a violation of&nbsp;freedom of speech and expression defines what constitutes criminal contempt and says that if by way of publication of words, the dignity of the courts is lowered and if they scandalize the courts then the offence of contempt of court is deemed to have been committed.\"}}]}

<ul>
  <li>The bench was headed by Justice Arun Mishra</li>
  <li>He is also dealing two separate contempt of court cases against<br>
Prashant Bhushan</li>
  <li>The petitioners want the liberty to approach the top court again</li>
</ul>

#PrashantBhushan