"Foundation of the Court is strong, criticism of court can never be contempt:" Mukul Rohatgi defends Rachita Taneja in contempt of court case

Senior Advocate and former Attorney General for India Mukul Rohtagi today entered appearance on behalf of cartoonist Rachita Taneja in the contempt of court case initiated against her by the Supreme Court (Aditya Kashyap v. Rachita Taneja). .Rohatgi argued that the Court should never have taken cognizance of the matter, stating,"Why has the court take cognizance of this? Foundation of the Court is much stronger. Criticism of court can never be contempt. She is young 25-year-old girl.".He also adverted to the fact that there is an adverse public perception against the Supreme Court for having heard a case against a journalist during the vacation. .Rohatgi was referring to the bail plea of Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, whose case was taken up during the Diwali vacation, when the Court was shut.It is interesting to note that Rohatgi himself had represented Goswami in that matter. .Supreme Court grants Arnab Goswami interim bail: Read LIVE ACCOUNT of court proceedings here.Justice Ashok Bhushan said that he agreed that the Court's foundation is strong, but such allegations against the Court were being made frequently. "We agree with you, but everyone is doing it now," said Justice Bhushan. .Justice MR Shah, who was also on the Bench, however, insisted that Taneja should file her response in the matter. He said,"You file the reply. If you don't we will proceed. Better you file the reply.".Rohatgi agreed and the matter was thereafter adjourned for three weeks..Taneja, who operates the Twitter handle @sanitarypanels, tweeted a cartoon depicting the BJP, the Supreme Court, and a reporter with the text "Tu Janta Nahi Mera Baap Kaun Hai" (You don't know who my father is)..Another tweet by Taneja carried the text “Arnab gets bail, real journalists get jail, independent judiciary is fail.”This caption was accompanied by a picture of the Supreme Court with a saffron flag hoisted on its top and engraved “SANGHI COURT OF INDIA”. .Attorney General KK Venugopal received numerous request sfrom law students and lawyers to initiate contempt against Taneja for the tweet. The AG eventually granted his consent for the same in December 2020. ."I am satisfied that each of the tweets with cartoons attached is in contempt of the Supreme Court of India, hence I grant my consent," the AG had said, according sanction to prosecute Taneja for contempt of court. .Similar petition is also pending before the Court against stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra for such tweets. That case was also taken up for hearing today but was adjourned after the petitioner sought time to file rejoinder. Kamra has maintained that his tweets/ jokes criticising the Supreme Court could shake the foundations of the most powerful court in the world is an over-estimation of his abilities.."Public's faith in judiciary is founded on the institution's own actions and not on any criticism or commentary about it," the affidavit filed by Kamra said..(Read orders)