CM Ashok Gehlot tenders apology to Rajasthan High Court for alleging corruption in judiciary

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday tendered an unconditional apology to the Rajasthan High Court for his recent remarks alleging rampant corruption in judiciary including in the higher judicial institutions..A bench of Chief Justice Augustine George Masih and Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava directed Gehlot to put his unconditional apology on record by way of an affidavit, so that it can be considered further. The Court also noted that the issue at hand was serious.The case was listed for further hearing on November 7 when the Court is likely to decide on the apology rendered by Gehlot..The Court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that had sought the initiation of contempt of court proceedings against Gehlot for his statements..According to the plea filed by advocate Shiv Charan Gupta, Gehlot's statements amounted to wilfully scandalizing the judiciary.Therefore, he requested the Court to take suo motu cognisance of Gehlot's remarks by invoking its jurisdiction under Article 215 of the Indian Constitution..On August 30, Gehlot alleged that there was rampant corruption in the judiciary, adding that he was told of lawyers who write judgments for judges to pronounce. "Aaj jo bataiye itna corruption ho raha hai judiciary ke andar. Itna bhayankar corruption hai, kai wakil log toh maine suna hai, likh ke le jaate hain judgment aur judgment wohi aata hai (Translation: Today, the corruption taking place within the judiciary is so terrifying. I've heard that a lot of lawyers write judgments and take them along to court, where the same are pronounced)," he had said while speaking to media.The High Court on September 2 issued notice to Gehlot and ordered him to file his response in the contempt case. .Advocate Shiv Charan Gupta who filed the contempt plea appeared in person before the High Court.