"Know him for 16 years:" AG KK Venugopal recuses from dealing with request to initiate contempt case against Justice Markandey Katju

Attorney General for India (AG), KK Venugopal has recused from considering the request to grant permission to initiate contempt of court proceedings against former Supreme Court judge, Justice Markandey Katju. .Venugopal said that he has known Justice Katju for the last sixteen years and have been interacting with him ever since and hence it would not be appropriate for him to deal with the matter. He, therefore, asked the petitioner, Supreme Court lawyer Alakh Alok Srivastava to place the request before Solicitor General as per the Contempt of Courts Act. .As per Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act and Rule 3 of Rules to Regulate Proceedings for Contempt of Supreme Court, the consent of Attorney General or Solicitor General is required before the apex court can hear a criminal contempt petition filed by a private individual..Supreme Court lawyer Alakh Alok Srivastava had written a letter to Venugopal on March 1, 2021, in which he alleged that Justice Katju had made ‘extremely contemptuous’ remarks against Indian judiciary in the Nirav Modi extradition case. Srivastava cited the observations made by the UK court against Katju in connection with the case.The retired judge had deposed as a witness before the UK court for Nirav Modi in the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam in September 2020. Justice Katju had testified that the fugitive jeweller ‘would not receive a fair trial in India’ since Indian judiciary is not independent.On February 25, while clearing Modi’s extradition to India, the District Judge at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Sam Gooze, observed that Katju’s testimony ‘was not reliable’ and had ‘hallmarks of an outspoken critic with his own personal agenda.’.Srivastava in his letter to AG stated that the UK court’s judgement categorically noted that the day before the ‘contemptuous’ remark, Justice Katju also gave an ‘elaborate’ press commentary about it to the media.This, as per Srivastava, amounted to ‘deliberately and willfully scandalising’ the Supreme Court and lowering its authority, not just in front of the UK court, but also in front of the public at large.He, therefore, sought AG’s consent to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against Katju..PIL in SC seeks legal action against Justice Markandey Katju for "tarnishing image of judicial system" by deposing in Nirav Modi case.AG while refusing to deal with the request due to his acquaintance with Katju, said that as per Explanation (a) of Section 15(3) of Contempt of Courts Act, the Solicitor General of India is also empowered to grant such consent. "If so advised, you may file your application for consent before the Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta," AG said in his response. .[Read the response of AG]