Sahara-Birla Payoffs:Prashant Bhushan tweets photo of Justice Arun Mishra with Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Advocate Prashant Bhushan is in no mood to concede. A few days after his petition seeking investigation into Sahara Birla payoffs was dismissed by the Supreme Court, Bhushan has now tweeted a photo of Supreme Court judge, Justice Arun Mishra with a caption which could have grave implications..The tweet is as follows:.Justice Arun Mishra was the judge who presided the Bench in the Sahara-Birla payoffs hearing..The photograph tweeted by him has Justice Mishra standing with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Chouhan is alleged to be one of the beneficiaries in the Sahara-Birla payoffs..On January 11 this year, a Bench presided by Justice Arun Mishra had dismissed an application filed by NGO Common Cause seeking SIT investigation into the Sahara-Birla Pay-offs..The applicant NGO had alleged in its plea that during the raids conducted by the CBI at the offices of Sahara and Birla in relation to the Coal scam investigation, documents were recovered which evidenced bribing of high ranking officials and politicians including then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi..The petitioner had sought an SIT probe into the same..The matter had first come up before a Bench presided by Justice JS Khehar. Khehar J. was inclined to dismiss the case, but Bhushan had asked for an adjournment saying that since Justice Khehar’s file for elevation as the Chief Justice of India was pending with the Central government, there was a possibility of conflict of interest in his deciding the case before his elevation as CJI. This had invited strong rebuke from the Bench though it proceeded to adjourn the case..Subsequently, the matter was listed before another Bench comprising Justice Arun Mishra and Amitava Roy..This Bench had then heard out the plea and dismissed the case, stating that democracy cannot function if an investigation is ordered against high constitutional functionaries without cogent material..Bhushan had subsequently, criticized the order of the Bench as a “blackmark on the reputation of Supreme Court”..Whether the Court will take note of this tweet or will let it pass, remains to be seen.