A Bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjiv Khanna of Supreme Court directed that the case records in the 2009 contempt case against Advocate Prashant Bhushan be sent to Attorney General KK Venugopal.
The Court said that AG Venugopal would be impleaded in the case as per Rule 10 of the Supreme Court Rules. A decision on whether he would be appointed as an amicus curiae in the case will be taken later.
Dhavan also submitted that there are more questions of law to be framed in the case, as the Court had earlier stated that it would add to the list of 10 questions submitted by Prashant Bhushan.
The Court had asked the counsel involved in the case to address the following questions:
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- In case a public statement as to corruption by a particular Judge(s) is permissible, under what circumstances and on what basis, it can be made, and safeguards, if any, to be observed in that regard ?
- What procedure is to be adopted to make complaint in such cases when the allegation is about the conduct of a sitting Judge ?
- Whether against retired Judge(s), any allegation as to corruption can be made publicly, thereby shaking the confidence of general public in the judiciary; and whether the same would be punishable under the Contempt of Courts Act?
The instant contempt case dates back to 2009, when Bhushan made statements alleging corruption in the judiciary in an interview with Tehelka magazine.
The Supreme Court had subsequently taken suo motu notice of the issue after a complaint to this effect was filed by Senior Advocate Harish Salve, amicus curiae in the case. The contempt petition was held to be maintainable by a three-judge Bench on November 10, 2010.
The matter will now taken up from October 12.
