New Delhi, Aug 8 : Two lawyers have filed separate pleas with Attorney General K.K.Venugopal on Monday, seeking his consent to commence contempt proceedings against a senior lawyer and Law Minister Kapil Sibal, over his remarks that allegedly undermine the independence and dignity of the Supreme Court.In a letter addressed to the AG Advocate Vineet Jindal said “Mr.Kapil Sibal.has directly made allegations with intent to humiliate and shame the sitting judges of the most prestigious court that is the Supreme Court, of our country.The remarks made from Mr.Sibal has scandalized the decisions of the Supreme Court judges and accused judges of being corrupt.”
Jindal declared that Sibal was speaking at an the event “People’s Tribunal” which was held on Saturday in Delhi in connection with the “Judicial Rollback of Civil Liberties” by the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR), People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) as well as the National Alliance of People’s movements (NAPM)
Jindal said Sibal had said: “.I don’t want to discuss this in the court I have been practicing for 50 years, but the time is now.If we don’t talk about of it then who will? The reality is that any subject we recognize has a problem is put before judges, and we know what the verdict will be.”
The letter also stated that Sibal also doubted the impartiality of the judiciary by saying: “Jis court mein judge bithaye jaate hain (where judges are appointed) by means of compromise and compromise, a court in which there’s no way in place to decide which cases will be ruled by which bench when the Chief Justice of India decides what issue will be handled with by which bench and at what time the court will never remain independent.”
Jindal said that if this type of precedent was allowed, politicians will begin making rash accusations against judges of the supreme court of our country.He said this trend could result in the demise of an independent judiciary.”I would therefore like your permission in accordance with Section 15 (1) (b) of the Contempt of Courts Act 1971 that is in conjunction with Rule 3 of the rules that govern the proceedings for contempt of the Supreme court 1975, to initiate criminal contempt of court against Mr.Kapil Sibal,” he declared in his letter.
In a separate letter advocate Shashank Shekhar Jha also requested approval from the AG to commence a contempt action against Sibal.
Jha said that the speech of the contemnor goes beyond just a slam against the Supreme Court and its judges but is also a way to compromise the integrity and independence nature of the supreme court by shaming the authority of the court and its judges.
“That it is becoming a regular trend and setting the wrong precedent for lawyers with political affiliations use the judiciary as a way to push their political agenda , thereby criticizing the Court and the entire legal system by making rash accusations against judges who don’t resolve cases in their favor,” said Jha’s letter to the AG.
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