Attorney General Rejects Petition Against Swara Bhasker For Comments On Ayodhya Verdict
A petition was filed against Swara Bhasker, seeking initiation of criminal contempt proceedings for her comments criticizing the Supreme Court's verdict on the Ayodhya dispute
Earlier
this
month,
Usha
Shetty
from
Karnataka
had
filed
a
petition
against
Bollywood
actress
Swara
Bhasker,
seeking
initiation
of
criminal
contempt
proceedings
for
her
comments
criticizing
the
Supreme
Court's
verdict
on
the
Ayodhya
dispute.
However,
Attorney
General
KK
Venugopal
has
rejected
the
petition
saying
that
the
comments
referred
to
the
Judgement
of
Supreme
Court,
were
not
an
attack
on
the
institution.
Earlier
this
year,
Swara
Bhasker
was
present
at
the
'Artists
against
Communalism'
panel
discussion
in
Mumbai,
and
talked
about
the
apex
court's
verdict
in
the
disputed
land
case.
She
went
on
to
say,
"We
are
now
in
a
situation
where
our
courts
are
not
sure
whether
they
believe
in
the
Constitution
or
not...We
are
living
in
a
country
where
the
Supreme
Court
of
our
country
states
in
a
judgement
that
the
demolition
of
Babri
Masjid
was
unlawful
and
in
the
same
judgment
rewards
the
same
people
who
brought
down
the
mosque."
(sic)
Usha
hetty's
Petition
Expressing
concern
over
her
statement,
Usha
Shetty
in
the
petition
stated,
"It
is
not
merely
a
cheap
stunt
for
publicity
but
a
deliberate
attempt
to
incite
masses
to
resist
and
revolt
against
the
apex
court.
The
statement
intends
to
incite
a
feeling
of
no
confidence
amongst
the
public
with
respect
to
the
proceedings
of
the
Supreme
Court.
It
amounts
to
criminal
contempt."
Attorney
General's
Rejection
Statement
According
to
a
report
in
Live
Laws,
the
Attorney
General
rejected
the
plea
stating
its
a
vague
statement
not
related
to
any
court.
"The
comments
refers
to
the
Judgement
of
Supreme
Court
and
is
not
an
attack
on
the
institution.
This
does
not
offer
any
comment
on
the
Supreme
Court
itself
or
say
anything
that
would
scandalise
or
lower
the
authority
of
the
Supreme
Court.
The
2nd
Statement
is
a
vague
statement
not
related
to
any
particular
Court
and
something
which
is
so
general
that
no
one
would
take
any
serious
note
of
this
statement.
I
therefore
decline
consent
to
initiate
contempt
proceedings
against
Ms.
Swara
Bhaskar," stated
the
Attorney
General.
SC
Awarded
The
Disputed
Land
To
The
Deity
Ram
Lalla
In
2019
On
November
9,
2019,
a
five-judge
bench
of
Supreme
Court,
led
by
the
then
CJI
Ranjan
Gogoi
had
ruled
a
unanimous
judgement
that
the
2.77-acre
disputed
land
parcel
had
been
occupied
in
the
16th
century
to
build
the
mosque
razed
in
1992.
The
disputed
land
was
awarded
to
the
deity
Ram
Lalla,
one
of
the
three
litigants
in
the
case.