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  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
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Supreme Court Versus Prashant Bhushan

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-07-23 19:57:58

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

A lawyer-activist tweets negatively about some recent judicial decisions and questions the Chief Justice for sitting on a motorbike without a mask and helmet. The Supreme Court takes suo motu cognizance and charges him for contempt of court. The apex court's decision to haul up Prashant Bhushan for his tweets is not correct. Many other commentators have also been critical of the way the court has been handling several recent cases. There is no way the court can keep everyone happy with its decisions. If it is doing its job with honesty, it has no reason to be miffed with criticism for interpretation of the law is but a personal reading of the judge or judges based on the bare act and judicial precedents. Also, most daily newspapers were also critical of the Chief Justice when his picture on the motorbike first appeared.

As long as any criticism of a judgment, or judgments, does not attribute motives or cast aspersions on the judges, it should not be termed contemptuous. As different judges can interpret the same law differently, so different commentators can have their own take on judgments. The judges have to recognize this and be lenient for the reason of freedom of speech. If a narrow meaning is assigned to the contempt law it would stifle freedom of speech, the definition of which the Supreme Court has been trying to broaden in several recent judgments. The court has also not specified which of Prashant Bhushan's tweets it found to be contemptuous. A general and sweeping charge is itself bad in law.

Further, the court acted with unseemly haste in the Prashant Bhusan case. When this is juxtaposed with the delay in acting on several other cases of importance, it does not show the court in a good light. It sends the signal that while the court might take its own sweet time in other cases, it will dispense justice quickly if someone encroaches on its turf or as it said in Prashant Bhushan's case brings "the administration of justice in disrepute" or is "capable of undermining the dignity and authority of the institution".  There is no doubt that the system will collapse if motives are ascribed or aspersions are cast on those who dispense justice. But the judges need to take a broader view in the interest of freedom of speech and tolerate criticism as long as it is not mala fide. 

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