[BREAKING] Attorney General's consent sought to initiate contempt against Prashant Bhushan for interview to The Hindu on "Judiciary's collapse"

A letter has been addressed to Attorney General KK Venugopal seeking consent to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against advocate Prashant Bhushan for statements made in an interview to The Hindu newspaper titled "The Independence of the Judiciary has Collapsed.".The letter sent by Supreme Court lawyer Sunil Kumar Singh states that the November 29 interview of Bhushan makes an "insinuation that Supreme Court of India does not function in an impartial manner.".Contempt for free speech? How Prashant Bhushan's case triggered a slew of requests to Attorney General KK Venugopal for contempt action.The interview quotes Bhushan as having said: “Today, the major problem is lack of independence of the Supreme Court, and its willingness to kowtow to the Government.”.As per Singh, such a statement is a "gross insinuation against the entirety of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, that the Supreme Court of India is not an independent and impartial institution but is willing to kowtow to the Government. It is highly objectionable and audacious. It is a malicious attack on the hon’ble Supreme Court.".Helicopter Ride: Lawyer seeks Attorney General consent for initiating contempt against Prashant Bhushan for tweet on CJI SA Bobde's Kanha visit.In the interview, Bhushan is said to have commented that the reason for the lack of independence was “the government’s ability to bring Chief Justices under its control to virtually influence every important decision…".Singh states in his letter that such statements are "mala fide and motivated to denigrate the highest judiciary as part of an orchestrated campaign."."Prashant Bhushan is a chronic contemnor, as despite there being many proceedings before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, for contempt of Supreme Court pending against him, he is not desisting and stopping from making irresponsible, contemptuous and contumacious statements against the honourable judges of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India," Singh has stated in his letter to Venugopal..Bhushan has been quoted as saying in the interview: “Look, earlier too, there have been Chief Justices who had vulnerabilities. But previous governments were not so ruthless. The current regime has used the state agencies to prepare a dossier on Chief Justices even before they assume office. They have often tried to have Chief Justices-to-be on tenterhooks till assured that they will kowtow to the government.”.Prashant Bhushan moves Supreme Court seeking right of appeal against conviction for criminal contempt of Court.Singh states that "such a statement of Bhushan connecting the government to the judiciary is unwarranted." ."An independent judiciary is the one of the pillars of democracy. His (Bhushan's) statements questioning the independence and integrity of the judiciary (in this case the Hon’ble Supreme Court), are calculated to undermine the authority of the judiciary in the eyes of people," he adds.