RSS proponent S. Gurumurthy told the Delhi High Court on 27 April 2023 that he will not file a second affidavit presenting an ‘unconditional apology’ for his tweet against former Delhi High Court judge and serving Chief Justice of Orissa High Court, Justice S Muralidhar.
Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani presented the case for Gurumurthy and said that after the court took notice, the tweet was deleted. The senior counsel further told the Court that an affidavit has already been filed in the case by Gurumurthy asking for an apology.
A division bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Talwant Singh remarked that the affidavit did not tender any proper apology. The Bench said that if the alleged contemnor files an affidavit with a two-line apology, the court can put a quietus to the matter.
“I am sorry, but this is not an apology. File a two-line apology and put a quietus to this. Say it on affidavit and the matter ends,” Justice Talwant Singh commented.
Jethmalani to this said that there was no objective to execute the contempt and that Gurumurthy even turned up before Justice Mridul led bench.
The Court, however, emphasized that Gurumurthy can convey guilt on an affidavit and the topic will terminate.
Jethmalani then declared that his client will not be filing another affidavit.
The bench, accordingly, expressed that it will take notice of the case on merits.
The lawsuit relates to Gurumurthy’s speculatory tweet where he inquired of if Justice Muralidhar had been a junior to former union minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram.
The tweet was published after a bench guided by Justice Muralidhar hindered Enforcement Directorate from carrying on any coercive measure against P Chidambaram’s son Karti Chidambaram.
Justice Muralidhar led bench grabbed notice of the tweet and made clear that he has never operated as a junior to Chidambaram.
The Court further informed it to the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta (as he was then) and the Bar to evaluate whether such tweets call for measures in congruence with law.
The Delhi High Court Bar Associations (DHCBA) then put down a criminal contempt petition against Gurumurthy.
Justice Mridul asserted that besides hearing the lawsuit on merits, the Court will also assess the issue of whether the DHCBA is qualified to commence such proceedings.
“Mr Mahesh Jethmalani, learned senior counsel appears for Mr Gurumruthy and states that he has obtained instructions from the latter and it is their position that he has already tendered his apology in relation to the subject tweet and therefore there is no necessity for him to file a further affidavit expressing an unconditional apology in clear terms. List for further proceedings on July 6,” the Court instructed.
Advocate Ravi Sharma was also there to present the case for Gurumurthy.
Moreover, it is important to note that this is not the first criminal contempt against Gurumurthy.
The Delhi High Court had prompted a suo motu lawsuit against him for retweeting a writing containing specific allegations against Justice Muralidhar after he approved of bail to the Bhima Koregaon case indicted Gautam Navlakha.
Gurumurthy later removed his tweet and was, consequently, released in that case.
Written by Sonakshi Misra, 2nd year (4th semester) B.A.LL.B. Hons. Student at Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Legal Studies, Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur.
0 Comments