The Supreme Court on Tuesday held M Nageshwar Rao guilty of contempt of court. Rao was sentenced to imprisonment till the rising of the court. This meant that Rao will have to sit in a corner of the court till the end of the day. He was also fined Rs 1 lakh. The top court came down heavily on Rao for blatant violation of the Supreme Court order while transferring a key CBI officer investigating brutalities in Muzaffarpur shelter home.
Rejecting his Apology The Top court also found Rao’s legal advisor guilty of contempt of court. Rao has to deposit the fine of Rs 1 lakh within a week.
“We can send you to jail for up to 30 days,” the court said before accepting the Attorney General’s request for lenience. The director of prosecution of CBI S.B Ram was also found guilty of its contempt.
Attorney General KK Venugopal came to Rao’s defence and told the court that ‘to err is human.’ The AG also referred to Rao’s clean career record while pleading for sympathetic view. He argued that the mistake was not deliberate.
CJI replied, “Even if we accept his apology, his career record will be blemished as he has acted in contempt by his own admission.” LiveLaw Reported’
The Supreme Court also questioned why Rao was being represented by attorney general K.K. Venugopal. “Why a contemnor should be defended at government expenses?” the court asked.
“It’s not an error. It’s wilful disobedience,” a livid Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said, rejecting Rao’s apology. During the last hearing, the Chief Justice had said “You have played with our orders. God help you,”
Rao, who had taken the decisions during his tenure as the agency’s interim chief, had apologised to the top court on Monday, saying that he cannot even “dream” of violating its orders.
In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the officer had said he accepts his mistake of not seeking permission before transferring the officer probing the Muzaffarpur shelter homes case.
“I sincerely realise my mistake and while tendering my unqualified and unconditional apology, I specially state I have not wilfully violated the order of this court as I cannot even dream of violating or circumventing order of this court,” Rao’s affidavit read.
The top court had last Thursday held Mr Rao in contempt for moving out AK Sharma as part of the overnight mass transfer that followed the public feud between the CBI’s former chief Alok Verma and his deputy Rakesh Asthana.
