Prashant Bhushan Held Guilt Of Contempt Of Court By Supreme Court

NEW DELHI || Eminent lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Monday was held guilty of contempt of court by the Supreme Court which fined him Rs 1 as fine. The apex court also ruled that if the activist lawyer does not pay the fine by September 15, he will be sent to jail for three months and would be debarred from legal practice for a period of three years.

"Freedom of speech cannot be curtailed," said the Supreme Court while handing down the sentence, referring to "sane advice" from Attorney General KK Venugopal to the court and to Prashant Bhushan. Later, Bhushan tweeted a picture of his showing up a Rs one coin, which he informed had been contributed by his lawyer friend Rajiv Dhavan.

"My lawyer & senior colleague Rajiv Dhavan contributed 1 Re immediately after the contempt judgement today which I gratefully accepted," the 63-year-old tweeted. He however added that he would reveal later in the day on the course of action he plans to take in response to the SC order.