Attorney General declines consent for initiating contempt proceedings against Kapil Sibal

New Delhi, September 2

Attorney General KK Venugopal has refused to give his consent to initiate criminal contempt of court proceedings against former Law Minister and senior advocate Kapil Sibal.

Advocate Vineet Jindal had sought the Attorney General’s consent to initiate contempt of court proceedings against Sibal for allegedly saying that he had “no hope left in the institution (the Supreme Court)” at the People’s Tribunal organized on  August 6, 2022, here on “Judicial Rollback of Civil Liberties”.

Sibal had criticized the top court’s verdict dismissing Zakia Jafri’s plea challenging the SIT’s clean chit to the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and other state functionaries in the 2002 post-Godhra riots. He had also questioned the top court’s verdict upholding the stringent provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act that gave wider powers to the Enforcement Directorate.

However, Venugopal refused to give consent for initiating contempt of court action against Sibal, saying “No part of the statements cast any blame or aspersion upon the (top) court.” Sibal’s statements were not intended to scandalize the court or affect the confidence of the public in the institution, he noted.

The Attorney General concluded that Sibal’s statement criticizing the top court’s judgments would fall squarely within the purview of ‘fair comment’ which is permissible under Section 5 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.