Image Source: NDTV

A week after lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan was held guilty of contempt for his two tweets on Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and the Supreme Court, Mr Bhushan today told the top court that he is "pained" that he has been "grossly misunderstood".

"I am pained to hear that I am held guilty of contempt of court. I am pained not because of the would-be sentencing, but because I am being grossly misunderstood. I believe that an open criticism is necessary to safeguard the democracy and its values," Mr Bhushan said.

"My tweets need to be seen as an attempt for working for the betterment of the institution. The tweets, I consider, were discharge of my highest duty. Apologising would also be dereliction of my duty. I do not ask for mercy. I do not appeal for magnanimity. I cheerfully submit to any punishment that court may impose," Mr Bhusan told the court.

Responding to the lawyer-activist, Justice Arun Mishra said: "There is a Lakshman Rekha (boundary) for everything. Why cross it? We welcome pursuing good cases in public interest but remember, it is now after conviction. And it is a serious thing. I haven't convicted anyone of contempt in 24 years as a judge. This is my first such order."

The lawyer-activist had sought deferment of hearing on quantum of sentence in contempt proceedings against him. "We can assure you that no punishment will be acted upon till your review is decided," the top court told him.

However, the court rejected his request that another bench should hear arguments on quantum of sentence. "You are asking us to commit an act of impropriety that arguments on sentencing should be heard by other bench," the court said.

In one of the tweets, Mr Bhushan had said "four previous Chief Justices of India played a role in destroying democracy in India in the last six years".

The other accused sitting Chief Justice SA Bobde of riding a motorcycle - he was photographed on a Harley Davidson in Nagpur last month - without a helmet and face mask, while keeping the court in lockdown and denying citizens their right to justice.

Mr Bhushan in an affidavit on August 3 had said he regretted only a "part of" what he tweeted and asserted that criticism of the top judge "does not scandalise" the court or lower its authority.

Last week, the court discharged Twitter from contempt for publishing Mr Bhushan's tweets, saying it accepts the explanation given by the microblogging website.