Contempt law needs a rethink
The Supreme Court has, in the past, commented how it has broad enough shoulders to tackle criticism directed at it. By holding lawyer Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt for his tweets, not only does it seem to have diminished its own earlier described virtue, but it may also be making a mountain out of a molehill. Britain, from which India freed itself 73 years ago, for instance, officially abolished scandalising judges as a crime in 2013.Taking part in the debate on the Bill that performed this, Robert Carswell (a former Law Lord and Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland) said, ‘Judges have to be hardy enough to shrug off criticism, even if it is intemperate or abusive, which has happened; even if it is unfair and ill-informed, which has certainly happened; and even if it is downright and deliberately misleading, the same applies.’ Criticism serves, in a democracy, as a form of accountability. Distinction has been drawn, by the apex court itself, in earlier rulings, between criticism of judges and failure to comply with judicial orders and directions, to come down heavily on the latter as real contempt, as it violates public justice.
Responding to every criticism — even strong criticism — directed at the court as jurisprudential blasphemy can be construed as a sign of over-reaction. This can only diminish the gravitas the Supreme Court and the law should hold, not enhance it. Critiques don’t automatically amount to contempt. The court should encourage a two-way passage with its critics — at least not actively set the law as a guard dog to shut it.
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