Today, 12th April, Advocate Shashank Shekhar Jha sent a letter to the Attorney General about AAP supporters using social media to criticize the judiciary. Concerns raised regarding potential threats to judicial independence and credibility. The letter urged the AG to address this issue to safeguard the judiciary’s reputation and authority. Actions sought to mitigate the impact of such targeted campaigns.
New Delhi: Advocate Shashank Shekhar Jha sent a letter to the Attorney General of India, seeking permission to initiate a contempt of court case against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), its officials, and its supporters. According to Jha, there is an ongoing malicious campaign on social media platforms, such as X and Facebook, that is aimed at undermining the reputation of the Indian Judiciary and questioning the fundamental principles of the country’s legal system.
Jha informed the Attorney General that the AAP posted an 80 second video in which party officials deliberately misquoted the Delhi High Court. Additionally, Jha mentioned in his letter that an unauthorized recording of the proceedings of the Rouse Avenue Court, which took place on March 28, 2024, including the complete submissions made by Arvind Kejriwal before the Magistrate, been shared on social media.
Read Also:AG Venkataramani Urges Critics to Consider India’s History for Insightful Advice
The letter addressed to AG Venkataramani stated,
“A false conversation about the Rouse Avenue Court proceedings was circulated on X with the aim of undermining the Court’s authority.”
The AG also informed that following Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma‘s dismissal of Kejriwal’s plea challenging his ED arrest, attacks on the judiciary resumed.
Jha added,
“In a premeditated manner this time, the Contemners began targeting Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma of the Delhi High Court, making baseless allegations of her affiliations with the BJP political party, being influenced, delivering judgments without due consideration, and more.”
Read Also:AG R Venkataramani: States Seek Interference of Supreme Court Over Political Issues
As Kejriwal appealed to the Supreme Court following the High Court’s rejection of his petition against the ED arrest, the contemnors have begun to cast doubts on the integrity of the top court’s judges.
As communicated to the Attorney General,
“The recurring occurrence of this phenomenon is establishing an unfavorable pattern, setting an erroneous precedent whereby social media is being exploited to malign the judiciary by individuals with political affiliations. They employ unlawful methods to manipulate the judicial process in order to advance their political agenda, including misrepresenting the proceedings, engaging in unauthorized recordings, and casting unwarranted doubts on the integrity of the presiding judges.”