Patna, (Bihar Times): A division bench of the Patna High Court on Monday awarded 15 days simple imprisonment to woman social activist Suman Lal after her refusal to apologize for accusing acting Chief Justice (ACJ) Chandramauli Kumar Prasad and his office of bias and advising him to turn a recluse instead of hearing her Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the strike of state government employees.

The indefinite strike has been called off on the order of the high court on the PIL filed by Jan Chowkidar of which Lal is a member.

A division bench of the Acting Chief Justice himself and Justice Shyam Kishore Sharma held that the conduct of Lal was aimed at browbeating the court. The court order said that she sought to substantially interfere with the due course of justice by levelling the allegations. Lal was taken to Beur jail by policewomen.

It needs to be mentioned that Lal threatened to complain to the Chief Justice of India, the President and the Prime Minister. The High Court, however, said it would accept only fair criticism of its judgment.

Comment

comments...

Nowhere in democratic world, citizens are jailed for criticizing a judge. The law of contempt in India is a relict from colonial past. It must be scrapped. No one should be immune from criticism. Freedom of speech is a fundamental right under the constitution of India.
It is more important given widespread corruption in the judiciary. The judges in India are appointed by judiciary themselves and are accountable to none. Again, no democracy provides such blanket power to the judiciary.

Rajesh

rjchandra@hotmail.com