Page 46 - ELT_1st September 2020_Vol 373_Part 5

A148 EXCISE LAW TIMES [ Vol. 373

democracy, and another in which he made a personal remark about the Chief
Justice in the context of Courts remaining locked down. This newspaper does not
endorse the content of either of Mr. Bhushan’s tweets, but the issue here is the
manner in which Court has dealt with the issue, which is more about individuals
and less about the Court itself.
There is a certain rationale for the provision of contempt. But for it to
have legitimacy and effectiveness, it must be used in rare circumstances - when
the State or citizens refuse to abide by the order of the Court, when there is clear
evidence of obstruction of justice, and when the Court itself is being targeted. A
2012 United Kingdom (UK) Law Commission report provides an excellent tem-
plate in this regard, where it recommended that the offence of “scandalising the
Court” was an infringement of freedom of expression that should not be re-
tained; this was subsequently implemented by the UK Parliament. In India too,
contempt must not apply to criticism of judges because that doesn’t necessarily
mean criticism of the Court. And even criticism of the Court should be allowed.
If citizens point out what they think is a shortcoming of the Court - be it in terms
of how it is prioritising cases or adopting a certain process of jurisprudence or
the logical inconsistencies in a certain order - allow it. These criticisms may not
always be well-reasoned or even fair, but it is through discussion in the public
sphere that institutions become stronger and democracy thrives. The Apex Court
needs to have a far more liberal interpretation of the contempt provision, even as
it safeguards the sanctity of the judicial process.
[Source : Hindustan Times, New Delhi, dated 15-8-2020]

Declared minor, son of RTI activist gets bail after 5 months
in jail
A week after The Indian Express reported that the 14-year-old son of an
RTI activist in Buxar has been in jail since February after police declared him an
adult while arresting him on charges under the Arms Act, the State Juvenile Jus-
tice Board has declared the boy a minor, and granted him bail.
The bail order was issued 14-8-2020, and the boy is likely to return home
16-8-2020.
Following the report published on August 8, Buxar S.P. Upendra Nath
Verma had ordered a probe to find out if local police were responsible for declar-
ing the boy an adult. The boy was arrested while he was returning home after
appearing for his Class 10 exams on February 29.
Speaking to The Indian Express, the boy’s father said : “It feels like a
dream after a long nightmare. My son will come back to us, finally. He suffered
because I am an RTI activist and my queries, especially on MNREGA job cards
and procurement of paddy over the last 10 years, had been hurting some peo-
ple.”
However, he said, the police action has meant that his son has lost a year
in school. “He had scored 83 per cent in the five papers he wrote. He had to ap-
pear for his final paper when he was arrested,” the activist said.
Lalan Pandey, the boy’s lawyer, said : “We are very happy that the Juve-
nile Justice Board heard our case on priority, and declared the boy as a minor
after the father submitted an affidavit. We also had the school authority declar-
ing that the boy was born in April, 2006.”
EXCISE LAW TIMES  1st September 2020  46