New Delhi: Attorney General of India, KK Venugopal, has granted consent to a law student to initiate contempt proceedings against comedian Rachita Taneja for her tweets critical of Supreme Court for granting bail to Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-Chief of Republic TV.
Twitter handle "Sanitary Panels" run by Taneja had posted a cartoon showing BJP, Arnab Goswami and the Supreme Court with "Tu Jaanta Nahi Mera Baap Kaun Hai" (you don't know who my father is) written on it.
In another tweet, she had posted a sketch of the top court and titled it "Sanghi Court of India".
Granting consent for the contempt, AG has written that the tweets clearly imply that the Supreme Court is biased towards the ruling BJP party.
For the second tweet, he wrote that it "carries a gross insinuation against the Apex Court of this country to the effect that the Supreme Court of India has ceased to be an impartial organ of the state".
"The tweet clearly calculates to undermine the public confidence in the independence and impartiality of the Supreme Court of India," added AG.
Supreme court had constituted a special bench to hear bail plea of Goswami who was booked under abetment to suicide by the Maharashtra police. The court heard the case when it was on a vacation and granted him bail making strong observations against the HC's refusal of bail and the state's act of detaining him.
The top court had garnered criticism as the bail to the controversial anchor comes at a time when incarcerated journalists, activists and scholars have repeatedly failed to secure relief from the court.
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