News Date: 10 Apr, 2023, 12:19 pm IST
Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday discharged filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri from the contempt case initiated against him over his remarks against former Delhi High Court judge and current Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court, Justice S Muralidhar.
A Division Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Vikas Mahajan was hearing the suo motu criminal contempt petition initiated by the Court after several social media users made remarks against Justice Muralidhar for granting bail to activist Gautam Navlakha.
“Twitter is a great source of misery,” Justice Mridul observed during the hearing.
Agnihotri was present in court for the hearing. When the matter was taken up, Justice Mridul called for Ranganathan’s presence as well.
While referring to another contempt case that was filed against RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy, he said,
“Every citizen of the country must know that you should be careful. We invite just and fair criticism. This is how we function.”
The Court went on to say,
“He (Gurumurthy) has expressed remorse and tendered an unconditional apology…In Justice Gogoi’s judgment it is said that courts do not punish for contempt to secure their dignity. Our dignity does not come from what people have to say. It comes from the duties we discharge.”
The Court recorded in its order that Agnihotri was present in court to reiterate his remorse over the comments he made.
“He also tenders an unconditional apology qua the allegedly offensive statement on Twitter,” the Court recorded.
Referring to what Agnihotri said in the affidavit, the Court said,
“…Mr Agnihotri states that he has utmost respect for the judiciary and he did not intend to wilfully offend the sensibilities of the court; the notice show cause issued to why contempt should not be initiated against his is hereby recalled. He accordingly stand discharged.”
Advocate J Sai Deepak appeared for Ranganathan and said that there was no order for Ranganathan to be present personally. However, the counsel assured that he would be present at the next date of hearing on May 24.
On a parting note, the Court cautioned Agnihotri to be more careful with his remarks in the future.
Agnihotri had put out tweets alleging bias on the part of Justice Muralidhar in granting Navlakha bail in the Bhima Koregaon case.
Pursuant to the tweets, contempt of court proceedings was initiated against Agnihotri. Ranganathan, Swarajya magazine and several others had also posted similar content the social media platforms.
The Court had in September this year decided to proceed ex-parte against Agnihotri, Ranganathan and Swarajya noting that they were not represented.
In the hearing on December 6, 2022, Agnihotri expressed an unconditional apology for his remarks. An affidavit to that effect was filed by Agnihotri withdrawing his statement against the judge and tendering his apology.
He had also moved an application to recall the ex-parte order and seeking permission to participate in the proceedings. However, the Bench had insisted that Agnihotri remain present personally in court for the hearing.
“We are asking him (Agnihotri) to remain present because he is the contemnor. Does he have any difficulty if he has to express remorse in person? The remorse cannot always be expressed by way of an affidavit,” Justice Mridul had remarked.
