Contempt case: Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri tenders apology in Delhi HC, discharged

By PTI

NEW DELHI: Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri appeared sooner than the Delhi High Court on Monday and tendered an unconditional apology in reference to a jail contempt case over his alleged remarks in opposition to a determine of the courtroom docket.

Accepting his apology, a bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Vikas Mahajan discharged Agnihotri of the contempt value and cautioned him to remain cautious ultimately.

“In view of the circumstances that Vivek Agnihotri stated that he has utmost respect for the institution of judiciary and did not intend to wilfully offend the majesty of this court, the notice to show cause issued to him is hereby recalled. Vivek Agnihotri stands discharged as the alleged contemnor,” the bench said.

Agnihotri appeared sooner than the courtroom docket in pursuance of its earlier path.

In 2018, the filmmaker had put out tweets alleging bias in opposition to Justice S Muralidhar, who was then a determine of the Delhi High Court and is for the time being the chief justice of the Orissa High Court, as he had launched rights activist Gautam Navlakha from house arrest inside the Bhima-Koregaon violence case.

Subsequently, contempt of courtroom docket proceedings have been initiated in opposition to Agnihotri and others by the extreme courtroom docket.

On December 6 last yr, the courtroom docket requested the filmmaker to “show remorse in person” after he tendered an unconditional apology by the use of an affidavit.

“We are asking him (Agnihotri) to remain present because he is the alleged contemnor. Does he have any difficulty in appearing before this court? He has to be present and show remorse in person,” the courtroom docket had said.

The lawyer displaying for an extra alleged contemnor, Anand Ranganathan, assured the courtroom docket that he would keep present sooner than it on May 24, the next date of listening to inside the case.

Senior advocate Arvind Nigam, who’s aiding the courtroom docket inside the matter as an amicus curiae, had earlier educated that Ranganathan has made a tweet in relation to the contempt proceedings that he would go down stopping.

The courtroom docket had initiated the contempt proceedings inside the present case by itself after receiving a letter from senior advocate Rajshekhar Rao.

The contempt proceedings have been moreover initiated in opposition to Swaminathan Gurumurthy, the editor of the Chennai-based weekly, “Thuglak”, for his tweets in opposition to the determine. The proceedings in opposition to Gurumurthy have been subsequently closed in October 2019.

Rao, in his letter, had acknowledged that the tweets have been a deliberate attempt to assault a extreme courtroom docket determine.

Earlier, the courtroom docket had directed two social media platforms to dam the weblinks to an offending article levelling scandalous allegations in opposition to the determine.

NEW DELHI: Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri appeared sooner than the Delhi High Court on Monday and tendered an unconditional apology in reference to a jail contempt case over his alleged remarks in opposition to a determine of the courtroom docket.

Accepting his apology, a bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Vikas Mahajan discharged Agnihotri of the contempt value and cautioned him to remain cautious ultimately.

“In view of the circumstances that Vivek Agnihotri stated that he has utmost respect for the institution of judiciary and did not intend to wilfully offend the majesty of this court, the notice to show cause issued to him is hereby recalled. Vivek Agnihotri stands discharged as the alleged contemnor,” the bench said.googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.present(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); );

Agnihotri appeared sooner than the courtroom docket in pursuance of its earlier path.

In 2018, the filmmaker had put out tweets alleging bias in opposition to Justice S Muralidhar, who was then a determine of the Delhi High Court and is for the time being the chief justice of the Orissa High Court, as he had launched rights activist Gautam Navlakha from house arrest inside the Bhima-Koregaon violence case.

Subsequently, contempt of courtroom docket proceedings have been initiated in opposition to Agnihotri and others by the extreme courtroom docket.

On December 6 last yr, the courtroom docket requested the filmmaker to “show remorse in person” after he tendered an unconditional apology by the use of an affidavit.

“We are asking him (Agnihotri) to remain present because he is the alleged contemnor. Does he have any difficulty in appearing before this court? He has to be present and show remorse in person,” the courtroom docket had said.

The lawyer displaying for an extra alleged contemnor, Anand Ranganathan, assured the courtroom docket that he would keep present sooner than it on May 24, the next date of listening to inside the case.

Senior advocate Arvind Nigam, who’s aiding the courtroom docket inside the matter as an amicus curiae, had earlier educated that Ranganathan has made a tweet in relation to the contempt proceedings that he would go down stopping.

The courtroom docket had initiated the contempt proceedings inside the present case by itself after receiving a letter from senior advocate Rajshekhar Rao.

The contempt proceedings have been moreover initiated in opposition to Swaminathan Gurumurthy, the editor of the Chennai-based weekly, “Thuglak”, for his tweets in opposition to the determine. The proceedings in opposition to Gurumurthy have been subsequently closed in October 2019.

Rao, in his letter, had acknowledged that the tweets have been a deliberate attempt to assault a extreme courtroom docket determine.

Earlier, the courtroom docket had directed two social media platforms to dam the weblinks to an offending article levelling scandalous allegations in opposition to the determine.