NEW DELHI: KK Venugopal, Attorney General, has granted consent to initiate contempt of court proceedings against journalist Ajeet Bharti for his alleged objectionable remarks against the Supreme Court of India.
“In statement, it says, are vulgar, vituperative, outrageous and gross and undoubtedly tend to lower the authority of the Supreme Court and would seriously undermine the confidence of the people in the institution”, the Attorney General said while granting consent to initiate contempt against Bharti“.
Attorney General KK Venugopal said that bashing court had become a “pass time for some”. The allegations pertain to a video titled “Ajeet Bharti Roasts Supreme Court, High Courts” posted to the DO Politics channel on June 24. In the video almost 24 minutes in length, Bharti is accused to have made objectionable comments against the Judiciary.
As per reports, the consent under Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act has been granted on a letter sent by a lawyer, Pratik Kumar. This is the second instance when the Attorney General has granted sanction against Bharti for his alleged derogatory video about the Supreme Court and its judges.
Earlier in September last year, Attorney General had sanctioned to initiate contempt proceedings alleging that the video posted on the YouTube channel of Ajeet Bharti’s DO Politics had ‘scurrilous’, ‘vituperative’ and ‘highly derogatory’ words against Supreme Court and its judges.
In July 2021, a law student from Dr Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University had written to the attorney general for sanction to initiate contempt proceedings against Ajeet Bharti. The law graduate had alleged that the journalist maligned the reputation of the Courts using vile and obscene language.
The letter also claimed that Bharti had levelled allegations of nepotism, rampant corruption and directing protests across the country. “The foundation of justice delivery system has always been so strong that it never allowed anyone to obstruct the way towards equal justice by publicly using abusive language against the Courts and its Judges.
As a responsible citizen of this country and a student of law, I would be failing in my duty if I turned a blind eye to this grave attack on the integrity of my Hon’ble Supreme court and its Hon’ble judges”, Singh said in her letter.
It also mentions that as per Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act, the consent of Attorney General is required before the Supreme Court can hear a criminal contempt of court petition filed by a private individual.