"This is not civil war": Delhi High Court on Anand Ranganathan's tweet that he will not apologise for remarks against Justice S Muralidhar

Scientist Anand Ranganathan on Thursday told the Delhi High Court that he will participate in the contempt of court proceedings initiated against him for his remarks against former Delhi High Court judge and current Chief Justice of Orissa High Court, Justice S Muralidhar.."I am appearing for him and I am going to participate," counsel for Ranganathan said.Amicus Curiae Senior Advocate Arvind Nigam then highlighted that in one of his tweets, Ranganathan had said that he won't apologise for his tweets. "Subsequent to these proceedings, Mr Ranganathan has said he will never apologise. He said he will never apologise and that he will go down fighting. Even his subsequent tweets are contumacious," the Amicus said.To this, the court replied, "Why? Why would he go down fighting? This is not civil war.".A Division Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Talwant Singh was hearing the suo motu contempt petition initiated after several social media users made remarks against Justice Muralidhar on him granting bail to activist Gautam Navlakha. .Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri is also one of the contemnors in the case. Agnihotri had put out tweets alleging bias against Justice S Muralidhar as the judge had granted relief to activist Gautam Navlakha in the Bhima Koregaon case.Pursuant to the tweets, contempt of court proceedings was initiated against Agnihotri. Ranganathan, Swarajya magazine and several others had also posted similar content on Twitter.The Court had in September this year decided to proceed ex-parte against Agnihotri, Ranganathan and Swarajya noting that they were not represented.In the previous hearing on December 6, 2022, Agnihotri had expressed unconditional apology for his remarks. An affidavit to that effect was filed by Agnihotri withdrawing his statement against the judge and tendering his apology.He had also moved an application to recall the order of ex-parte hearing and seeking permission to participate in the proceedings.However, the bench had insisted that Agnihotri remain present personally in court for the hearing."We are asking him (Agnihotri) to remain present because he is the contemnor. Does he have any difficulty if he has to express remorse in person? The remorse cannot always be expressed by way of an affidavit," Justice Mridul had remarked. .Agnihotri's counsel informed the Court today that he is not keeping well and has, therefore, joined the proceedings through video conference instead of appearing in person.However, the bench reiterated that he must appear before the court in person. "When is he going to be here? He can't come? Give us a date of your choice," the bench said. After taking instructions, the counsel said that Agnihotri will come to court on April 10. The bench then proceeded to list the case for further consideration on the same date. .The Court was also informed today about another contempt petition filed by the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) where Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue and journalist S Gurumurthy is a respondent. However, the bench noted that Gurumurthy has already deleted his tweets and that the Court had even interacted with him. Justice Mridul said that the Court can now put a quietus to the issue. "This matter has been going on for five years. Let us put a quietus to this," the bench remarked.This matter will now be considered by the Court on April 10 along with the suo motu contempt petition. Advocate Ravi Sharma appeared for Gurumurthy.