Attorney General refuses to move court against journalist Dilip Mandal for tweet against CJI
India Today
Attorney General KK Venugopal turned down a request to initiate proceedings for criminal contempt against journalist Dilip Mandal for his tweet against the Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana.
Attorney General KK Venugopal on Tuesday refused to give his consent to initiate proceedings for criminal contempt against journalist Dilip Mandal for his tweet against the Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana.
A translation of Dilip Mandal’s tweet was included in the letter written by Venugopal. According to the translation, Mandal tweeted, "He sermonises even better than Chandrachud does. All that these useless people can do is talk. In their own court, which is the Supreme Court, more than 72,000 cases are pending. In several cases, the petitioners have also passed away. Judges give dates two years away. In the EWS case, no bench has been constituted for over 3 years.”
The letter said Mandal’s tweet was in response to a speech given by the CJI about reforms in the criminal justice system.
Venugopal in his letter refusing to give consent for trial wrote, “The shoulders of the court are broad enough to shrug off such comments.” The attorney general said he is not satisfied that the tweet has the capacity to scandalise the court or to lower its authority.
The request to initiate contempt was made by Advocate Saurabh Tiwari.
