“Justice is not a cloistered virtue,” declared Lord James Atkin as a judge of the United Kingdom Privy Council. “She must be allowed to suf...
“Justice is not a cloistered virtue,” declared Lord James Atkin as a judge of the United Kingdom Privy Council. “She must be allowed to suffer the scrutiny and respectful even through outspoken comments of ordinary men.”
These words were used in Ambard v. Attorney-General for Trinidad and Tobago in 1936 while holding that a critical publication, alleged to be contemptuous for bringing the administration of law into disfavour with the public, did not amount to contempt of court.
Contempt, according to the Indian Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, may be civil or criminal. Civil contempt is wilfully disobeying an order or an undertaking given to a court. Criminal contempt could flow from an action or publication that scandalises or lowers the authority of any court, obstructs the administration of justice or interferes with the course of judicial proceedings.
Lord Atkin’s observation was approvingly quoted by the Supreme Court of India in 1988 in the context of criticism and criminal contempt. Yet, it was ignored last week when the Supreme Court celebrated its independence a day before the rest of the country by cloistering itself from criticism through recourse to suo moto (on its own accord) proceedings for criminal contempt.
The tweets and the verdict
On July 22, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court...
