NEW DELHI: Expressing strong displeasure over scurrilous allegations made by a petitioner, Peddi Raju, against Telangana High Court judge Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya, the Supreme Court on Tuesday issued contempt notices to him and his lawyers.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) B R Gavai and Justice Vinod Chandran stated that no litigant would be allowed to make baseless accusations against a judge.
“We can’t permit judges to be put in a box and allow any litigant to make such allegations. Here, we were trying to protect lawyers,” the CJI observed while criticising the petitioner for his remarks.
SC: Lawyers too equally liable for misconduct
The court directed Raju to file an apology. “We will see if the apology is genuine or not. When we expressed displeasure at the language, liberty was sought to withdraw [the plea]. We dismissed the request,” the bench said.
The court also clarified that the lawyers representing Raju would be equally liable for the misconduct, given their involvement in the filing of the petition.
The allegations were made in a plea seeking transfer of a case in which Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was granted relief out of the Telangana High Court.
The High Court had quashed criminal charges against Reddy under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
The Supreme Court said it would consider a lenient approach only if the apologies submitted by both the litigant and his lawyers appeared sincere.