Solicitor General declines to grant consent to initiate contempt case against Justice Markandey Katju

After Attorney General KK Venugopal recused, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has declined to grant consent to initiate contempt of court proceedings against Former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju..Earlier in March 2021, Attorney General for India (AG), KK Venugopal had 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. However, AG Venugopal recused and referred the matter to Solicitor General..Yesterday, while declining consent, SG Tushar Mehta said,"In peculiar facts of the case, I deem it in appropriate and inexpedient to dwell much into the issues arising from the expressions used and perceptions projected by Justice Katju as he did so while giving his deposition as a witness before a Court of law.".Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.