Supreme Court closes contempt case against journalist Ajay Shukla over remarks about Justice Bela Trivedi

The Supreme Court on Monday closed the suo motu criminal contempt case initiated against journalist and YouTuber Ajay Shukla over scandalous remarks made against former top court judge Justice Bela M Trivedi [In Re: Scandalous Remarks Made By Mr. Ajay Shukla, Editor-In-Chief, Varprad Media Pvt. Ltd., A Digital Channel vs. & Anr.]. .A Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and SC Sharma closed the proceedings after being informed that Shukla had taken down the video and tendered an unconditional apology..The proceedings against Shukla were initiated last year by a bench led by former Chief Justice of India BR Gavai after he took note of a video uploaded on Shukla’s channel discussing the retirement of former Justice Bela M Trivedi. The caption of the video referred to Justice Trivedi as a “Godi judge” - a term often used to suggest that individuals or institutions act in alignment with the Central government.The Court had then said that such statements had the potential to bring disrepute to the institution of the judiciary.“Mr Shukla in the said video clip has made scandalous observations about one of the senior judges of this court. Such scandalous allegations widely published on YouTube are likely to bring disrepute to the august institution of judiciary,” the Court had observed.The Court had also directed Shukla and his channel, owned by Varprad Media India Private Limited, to immediately take down the video.While doing so, the Court had emphasised that freedom of speech cannot be used as a shield to make defamatory allegations against judges.“No doubt the Constitution guarantees free speech and expression. Such a right is restricted by reasonable restrictions and cannot be allowed to make defamatory allegations regarding a judge of this court or contemptuous in nature which brings disrepute to the institution of judiciary,” the Court had said..Today, the court noted that the video has already been taken down by Shukla and he has also tendered an unconditional apology. Accordingly, it closed the contempt of court proceedings. .Advocate Eesha Bakshi appeared for Shukla. .Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.