Lawyers seek Attorney General's consent to initiate contempt action against Kapil Sibal

As per section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act, the nod of the Attorney General is a condition precedent to set the criminal contempt proceedings

Two separate pleas were filed with Attorney General K K Venugopal on Monday seeking his consent for initiation of contempt proceedings against former Law Minister and senior advocate Kapil Sibal over his statements allegedly undermining the dignity and independent nature of the Supreme Court by scandalizing the authority of both the top court and its judges.

Sibal, while participating in the People's Tribunal on 'Judicial Rollback of Civil Liberties, had reportedly said, "A court where judges are selected through a process of compromise, a court where there is no system to determine which case will be presided by which bench, where the CJI decided which matter will be dealt with by which bench, that court can never be independent."

He also claimed, "After 50 years in the Supreme Court, I find that I have no expectation from this institution."

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In a letter to the A-G, advocate Vineet Jindal claimed Sibal by his statements has directly made allegations with intent to disgrace and scandalise the sitting judges of the highest court.

"The statements have scandalised the judgements passed by the Supreme Court judges and accused the judges of being corrupt. If this is allowed, political leaders would start making a reckless allegation against the judges of the highest court of our country and this trend would soon lead to the failure of an independent judiciary system," he contended.

Jindal sought consent from the A-G to initiate contempt proceedings against Sibal, further saying his statement would affect the masses by growing a sense of mistrust and concern among the public about the fall in the standards of the judicial system.

In a separate letter, advocate Shashank Shekhar Jha also sought consent from the top law officer of the country for contempt action against Sibal, claiming he "raised doubt on the independence of the Supreme Court and undermined the dignity with a mala fide intention to malign its image."