Plea seeks AG consent to initiate contempt action against Swara Bhaskar

A plea has been filed before the Attorney General of India KK Venugopal to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against Bollywood actress Swara Bhaskar for her alleged derogatory remarks against the Supreme Court in connection with its verdict in the Ayodhya title dispute.

The plea said Swara had passed a derogatory statement in context with the apex court and the judicial institution of the country.

The plea cited that in February, a society identified as Mumbai Collective organised a conference in which Bhaskar was a panelist and while addressing the conference, she made a statement derogatory and scandalous in nature, putting a big question on the judiciary and its integrity to the Constitution.

"Moreover, the alleged contemnor (Bhaskar) seemingly provoking the address to resist against the judicial institution of this nation... objectionable statement is not only a cheap stunt of publicity to gain brief applause but a deliberate attempt to turn the masses to resist and revolt against apex court," said the plea.

The petitioner contended that Bhaskar's statements intend to incite a feeling of no confidence amongst the public with respect to proceedings of the apex court and integrity of judges of the top court.

The consent of either the Attorney General or the Solicitor General is necessary under Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act 1971, to initiate the contempt proceedings against a person.

The plea has been filed by advocates Anuj Saxena, Prakash Sharma, and Mahek Maheshwari.

On November 9, a five-judge bench of the apex court had delivered a unanimous verdict paving the way for construction of Ram Temple at the disputed site in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya.

The top court also directed the Central government to allot a five-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board to construct a mosque.