Attorney General K.K. Venugopal on Friday refused to initiate contempt proceedings against Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, stating that criticism did not lower the dignity of the judiciary.
Delhi-based lawyer Vineet Jindal had written a letter to the AG, demanding initiation of contempt proceedings against the Supreme Court lawyer for giving objectionable remarks against the Apex Court.
As per the letter, Kapil Sibal, while speaking at a seminar recently, had said, “After practicing in the Supreme Court for 50 years, I have come to the conclusion that I have no hope from the Supreme Court. If you think that you will get some relief from here, then that is your misconception.”
The AG replied to the letter by saying that the criticism of the court and the judgements should be taken in the larger interests of the justice delivery system.
He said neither the statements intended to scandalise the court or affect the confidence of public in the institution, nor did they intend to casts any blame or aspersion on the court.
In fact, the criticism of certain judgements delivered by the Supreme Court would fall squarely within the purview of fair comment permissible under Section 5 of the Contempt of Courts Act 1971, the AG pointed out.
In his letter to the AG, Jindal had alleged that Sibal had made the allegations with intent to disgrace and scandalise the sitting judges of the Supreme Court.
He further alleged that through his remarks, the Senior Advocate had ‘scandalised’ the verdicts passed by the Supreme Court judges and even accused the judges of being corrupt.