Delhi High Court accepts apology of engineer who called Delhi judiciary corrupt, abused judge

The Delhi High Court recently closed the criminal contempt of court proceedings against a mechanical engineer who had used abusive language against a judicial officer and stated that the entire Delhi judiciary was corrupt [Court on Its Own Motion v. Brijesh Shukla].The division bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Shalinder Kaur said the allegations made against the judicial officer and the judiciary by Brijesh Shukla, the engineer, seemed to be out of “sheer frustration and depression”.The contempt proceedings against Shukla had been initiated in 2019 after he sent a complaint via email to the Vigilance Committee for judicial officers, alleging misuse of power by a judicial officer. He also used abusive language against the judge in the complaint. The Court noted that as per the record, Shukla had raised several issues of being cheated by the banks and also claimed that the judicial officer was adjudicating “fakes cases” against him and intending to grab his foreign payment.It also found that Shukla in his response to the contempt proceedings had specifically stated that the Delhi judiciary was corrupt and involved in money laundering..In response to a query from the Court, Shukla said he was a graduate in Engineering (Mechanical) and went to Fiji for work but did not get his due payment.He was also involved in a legal dispute with one Angelique International Ltd in relation to his payment from Fiji government, the Court was told.Shukla also said he had depression due to the loss from 2012 to 2022. After the amicus curiae appointed to defend him interacted with him, he sought unconditional apology and explained that he had not engaged any counsel and was not aware that such allegations will lead to contempt of court proceedings.Considering the same, the Court discharged Shukla from the contempt proceedings."He tenders an unconditional apology for making such comment and remorse to this effect and undertakes before this Court that he shall be careful in future," the order said.Advocate Dhruv Madan appeared as amicus curiae. [Read Order]