Tamil Nadu   

Court rejects contempt plea against Veeramani

J. Venkatesan

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a special leave petition against a Madras High Court order, refusing to initiate contempt proceedings against Dravida Kazhagam leader K. Veeramani, for his alleged remarks against a sitting High Court judge.

A Bench of Justice B.N. Agrawal and Justice P.P. Naolekar also rejected advocate `Elephant' G. Rajendran's plea for contempt of court action against State Minister Arcot N. Veerasamy for casting aspersions on the judiciary.

The Bench told Mr. Rajendran that as per the statute, prior sanction of the State Advocate General was required for filing a contempt petition. He had not obtained it. Mr. Rajendran replied, "The AG of the State shows his gratitude only to the ruler of the State rather than to the judiciary." The Bench told counsel, "The petition cannot be entertained without fulfilling the statute requirement."

To a question from counsel whether he could approach the AG seeking sanction, the Bench said, "It is up to you." When he sought permission to challenge the relevant statute (under which prior sanction of the AG is mandatory), the Bench said, "For that our permission is not needed. You are at liberty to do so."

"Contemptuous remarks"

Assailing the High Court's November 30, 2006 order rejecting his plea, Mr. Rajendran said the alleged contemptuous remarks against a sitting judge were directly punishable under Article 215 of the Constitution in a summary manner without recourse to any of the provisions of the Contempt of Court Act. Similarly, he alleged that Mr. Veerasamy made derogatory remarks against the judiciary. These episodes indicated a trend among politicians in Tamil Nadu to make unwarranted caustic statements against higher judiciary with impunity.

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