Gurumurthy made derogatory remarks about judges at the annual event of Thuglak on January 14 and later expressed regret for his ‘spur of the moment’ slip.
Days after Thuglak editor and political commentator S Gurumurthy expressed derogatory comments about judges, the advocate general of Tamil Nadu has issued notice to him for contempt of court. Gurumurthy had also expressed regret for his words spoken at the annual event of Thuglak.
The plea for consent to initiate contempt of court proceedings against Gurumurthy was filed by advocate S Doraisamy, a leader of Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam. In the annual event of Thuglak held in Chennai on January 14, Gurumurthy was talking about politicisation of the judiciary. In the course of his talk, he expressed derogatory remarks about the judges of the courts in India. Accepting the plea, the advocate general ordered both parties to appear before him on February 16 at 4 pm either in person or through a counsel.
After the words used sparked outrage on social media, Gurumurthy tweeted a clarification and expressed regret for his remarks. “In the course of my response to the reader (who asked the question for which it was an answer), my intent was to say how some candidates for judges for even the highest court go and beseech politicians for support. But in the spur and heat of the moment I mentioned judges instead of candidates. It is an error. For which I regret,” he wrote.
Adding that his response to the reader’s question was part of an extempore attempt and not deliberate, Gurumurthy wrote, “I have always held the judiciary in high esteem…I had also attacked the attempts of political parties to deride the courts and judges and I had cited how politicians attribute motives to the judges and courts.”
Reiterating that his respect for judiciary and judges is founded on personal experience of the judiciary standing by freedom of expression, Gurumurthy said that he sincerely regretted the error in mentioning the word ‘judges’ instead of candidates.
The Thuglak annual event took place on January 14 and was attended by several political leaders including BJP chief JP Nadda.
Source: The News Minute