Prashant Bhushan contempt: Lawyers entitled to voice legitimate criticism, says UK lawyers body

Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) has issued a statement saying that the Supreme Court's contempt verdict against advocate Prashant Bhushan amounted to interference with "legitimate criticism".

"We are extremely concerned that the Court in reaching its decision did not hold in contemplation that lawyers are entitled to, and should have, the freedom to voice publicly legitimate criticism of how justice is administered," the BHRC said, legal news website LiveLaw.in has reported.

The UK-based lawyer's body pointed out that the offence of scandalizing the court was abolished in the United Kingdom after it was widely felt that it could have "undesirable effects" on "free speech or legitimate criticism".

"The offence of scandalising the court arose in an era where deferential respect to authority figures was the norm and before a human rights framework protected the civil liberties of individuals and enabled the institutions of power to be held properly to account," it said.

Calling Bhushan a "regular commentator on political and legal matters", the BHRC said that his tweets and reply affidavit "were part of a

widespread debate and critical discussion in the legal community of how the Supreme Court of India – as the protector of the constitution and check on State power – administers justice".

"To stymie such criticism risks a chilling effect on an appropriate and necessary debate to advance law reform in a democratic society," the statement read.

"An independent and impartial judiciary is stronger when enabling open and public debate on its operations," it added.

The BHRC urged the Supreme Court of India to:

• Enable an effective review process of the decisions of the court to instigate contempt proceedings of its own motion and to convict Mr Bhushan of criminal contempt;
• Stay sentencing of Mr Bhushan until such review has been conducted;
• In any event, discharge Mr Bhushan from serving any punishment for the offence, commensurate with the broader context of public debate and the right to freedom of expression and legitimate criticism that the legal profession is entitled to exercise.

The Bar Human Rights Committee was founded in 1991, by the former Chairman of the Bar Council of England and Wales, Anthony Scrivener QC and its stated mission is "to protect and promote international human rights through the rule of law, by using the international human rights law expertise of the UK's most experienced and talented human rights barristers".