Supreme Court Condemns ‘Scandalous Allegations’ Against Judges, Contempt Case Dropped After Apology

Supreme Court Slams Scurrilous Allegations Against Judges, Contempt Case Dropped After Apology.

The Supreme Court on Monday strongly condemned the rising trend of litigants and lawyers making “scurrilous and scandalous” allegations against judges when rulings do not go in their favour. The remarks were made by a Bench comprising Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice Vinod Chandran while hearing a criminal contempt case against N. Peddi Raju and two advocates, Ritesh Patil and Nitin Meshram.

The contempt proceedings stemmed from allegations made against Telangana High Court judge Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya in a plea seeking transfer of a case to another High Court. The top court noted that such baseless accusations undermine the dignity of the judiciary.

“In the recent past, we have noticed a growing trend of making scurrilous and scandalous allegations against a judge when they don’t pass favourable orders. Such a practice needs to be strongly deprecated,” the bench observed.

While emphasising the duty of lawyers to act with respect and restraint as officers of the court, the Supreme Court decided not to pursue the case further after Justice Bhattacharya accepted the apologies tendered by Raju and his lawyers. “The majesty of law does not lie in punishment but in forgiving when apology is made. Since the learned Judge has accepted the apology, we do not proceed further,” the court said.

The bench also cautioned lawyers to exercise care when making allegations in pleadings, stressing that false claims against judges will not be tolerated.

The allegations had originally claimed a “likelihood of derailment of justice” in a case in which Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy received relief under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The plea had further alleged bias on the part of Justice Bhattacharya and claimed that Raju’s lawyer was given only five minutes to argue.

The Supreme Court had earlier issued contempt notices and directed the parties to apologise before Justice Bhattacharya, who accepted the apology on August 22, while also placing on record a rebuttal of the claims made against her.