A division bench of the Kerala High Court recently sentenced a person to undergo three days of imprisonment and pay a fine of Rs 2,000 in a suo motu contempt of court case registered on charges of publishing contemptuous and intemperate remarks against the judges on social media.
The convicted person, P K Suresh Kumar, a resident of Alangad in Ernakulam district, had made a series of social media posts about high court judges. While the court convicted Kumar on July 16, the bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan and Jobin Sebastain noted that he had faced a similar contempt of court case for making scandalous statements against a judge, but was discharged after he tendered an unconditional apology.
In the suo motu proceedings initiated against Kumar, the court noted that the accused had stated that the judges comprising the devaswom (temple affairs) bench of the high court were functioning under the influence of the Sangh Parivar and other external agencies, and that judgments were being rendered to appease such factions.
In another Facebook post, he had alleged that a judge of the high court had publicly endorsed the Sangh Parivar and participated in events organised by such groups, purportedly to secure favour from them.
Finding that the accused person committed criminal contempt by scandalising the court with mala fide intent, the judge said, “The shoulders of the court are broad enough to shrug off certain comments, and there cannot be any dispute on the same. While fair and temperate criticism is protected, criticism based on distortion, falsehood, and aimed at vilifying the institution cannot be countenanced. The comments made by the respondent cannot be categorised as an isolated or inadvertent remark,’’ said the court in its order.
