New Delhi, September 28
The Supreme Court today stayed the sentence of four functionaries of tabloid Mid-Day in the contempt of court case for writing articles against former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Y K Sabharwal on orders passed by a Bench, headed by him, relating to sealing of illegal shops in capital.
But the apex court rejected the plea of some prominent citizens to become party to the Mid-Day appeal, saying that it was a “statutory appeal” against the Delhi High Court’s verdict of conviction and sentence, which has no scope for intervention by a third party having no link with the case.
“The high court order will not be executed till next hearing,” a Bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and P Sathasivam said, fixing further hearing of the appeal for January 16.
The Court also appointed senior advocate and former Additional Solicitor General T R Andhyarujina as amicus curiae to assist it in adjudicating the matter.
As senior advocate Anil Diwan sought the impleadment of a group of prominent personalities in favour of the Mid-Day functionaries, the Court asked “where is the question of intervention. If it is contempt, the order will stand, otherwise it will go.”
The Bench, at the very outset of the proceedings in the case, said it was a “statutory” appeal, when senior advocate Shanti Bhushan stood up to plead the case of the Mid-Day functionaries. Consequently it passed the stay order, which is normally done in statutory appeals till their final disposal.
The Court declined to entertain Diwan’s request when he persisted with the plea that the prominent personalities, who had expressed their views against the conviction and wanted to stand by the Mid-Day functionaries on the ground that as per the amended contempt law “truth” has been made a defence. But the Court asked Diwan “where is the scope for intervention in a statutory appeal by a third party.”
Among those who wanted to implead in the case were Magsaysay award winners Arvind Kejriwal, Arundhati Roy, Sandeep Pande and Rajinder Singh, some lawyers and journalists.
A high court Bench of Justices R S Sodhi and B N Chatturvedi had awarded four months’ sentence to Mid-Day Editor M K Tayal, Resident Editor Vitusha Oberoi, former publisher S K Akhtar and cartoonist Irfan Khan, finding them of guilty of committing the contempt of court.
However, soon after their conviction, the Supreme Court had granted them bail when they in a swift action had moved the apex court even before the sentence order was passed on September 21.
The high court, which had taken suo motu notice of the series of articles written by Mid-Day on the issue, had said they had crossed the “Lakshman Rekha” fixed by the apex court in various judgments for media to criticise the judiciary and the sentence of four months imprisonment to them would serve the purpose of justice.
