Advocate General refused consent to Savukku Shankar’s contempt petition against RS Bharathi

CHENNAI: The Advocate General (AG) R Shunmugasundaram refused to grant consent to the application filed by political commentator and Youtuber, ‘Savukku’ Shankar to initiate proceedings for criminal contempt against DMK organising secretary R.S. Bharathi.

The AG said the alleged criminal contempt on the basis of a statement made by R S Bharathi in a press interview has not been furnished with the application.

The statement in dispute may be a criticism but there is no intention to scandalise a judicial proceeding nor intended to interfere with a judicial proceeding, said the AG.

It may be a criticism against a particular judicial action, he added. “In my opinion, the statement made by R S Bharathi does not constitute criminal contempt and as Justice N Anand Venkatesh himself has refused to initiate contempt, I do not see any reason to grant consent to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against him”, said the AG. Hence, the AG refused to grant consent to the application.

Savukku Shankar and another petitioner filed the contempt petition jointly.

The petition stated that on August 24 while addressing the media RS Bharathi, had accused Justice N Anand Venkatesh for adopting a ‘pick and choose policy’ in initiating the Suo motu action against ministers. It also stated, Bharathi had also attributed malafide intentions to the judge.

They further contended that his comments had caused damage to the credibility of judiciary in the eyes of the public and sought strict action against him under the Contempt of Courts Act.