'Defer hearing on sentence in contempt case' Says Prashant Bhushan

NEW DELHI: Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who has been held guilty of contempt of court, has moved the Supreme Court to defer the hearing on sentence on Thursday, pending consideration of the review application, which he intends to file within the limitation period, in the "interests of justice".

In an application filed through advocate Kamini Jaiswal, he submitted that human judgement is not infallible, and despite all the provisions ensuring a fair trial and a just decision, mistakes are possible, and errors cannot be ruled out.

"In criminal contempt proceedings, this court functions like a trial court and is also the last court. Section 19(1) gives a statutory right of appeal to a person found guilty of contempt by the High Court. The fact that there is no appeal against an order of this court makes it doubly necessary that it takes the utmost precaution to ensure that justice is not only done but seen to be done," said his application.

Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for Bhushan in the 2009 contempt case in the apex court, had submitted before a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra that Bhushan may file a review against the August 14 verdict which held him guilty of contempt of court.

Bhushan contended that "there would be gross injustice since there would be no occasion to examine the correctness of the findings arrived at in a suo motu criminal contempt proceeding before putting the convicted contemnor's liberty at stake". (IANS) 

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