Supreme Court Drops Contempt After Apology, Warns Against Scandalous Pleadings
The bench opted for a remedial course after Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya accepted unconditional apologies from the litigant with his counsel.
Overview
- A bench of Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran on November 10 closed suo motu contempt proceedings against N. Peddi Raju and two advocates.
- The court noted a growing trend of litigants attacking judges after unfavourable orders and said such conduct must be strongly deprecated.
- Justice Bhattacharya accepted the apologies on August 22 following the Supreme Court’s August 11 direction to tender them, which the bench cited in ending the case.
- The contempt arose from a transfer petition that made unfounded allegations of bias against Justice Bhattacharya in litigation tied to the quashing of an SC/ST Act case involving Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.
- The judges cautioned the Bar that lawyers, as officers of the court, must not sign pleadings carrying scandalous claims, stressing that the majesty of law can lie in forgiveness when an apology is made.