New Delhi, May 03: The Supreme Court today expressed dissatisfaction over the tone and tenor of the apology tendered by senior lawyer R K Anand who has been convicted for contempt of court for attempting to influence the course of justice in BMW hit-and-run case.
“Your affidavit does not say that you accept what you did. For you, it is still an imputation,” a three-judge bench headed by Justice B Sudershan Reddy said after going through the affidavit in which Anand apologised.
“Do you want to think over it again or shall we take that you do not want to file any affidavit in future,” the bench asked his lawyer who submitted that a fresh affidavit would soon be filed.
The bench, also comprising justices Aftab Alam and G S Singhvi, asked senior advocate R Kalla, appearing for Anand, to ask his client to read the judgement, in which he was held guilty for contempt of court, before filing any affidavit.
Anand, a former Rajya Sabha MP, tendered his apology after the apex court”s show cause notice as to why he should not be given more punishment under section 12 of Contempt of Court Act.
The apex court had on July 29, 2009, upheld his conviction and stripped him of the status of senior advocate for contempt of court for attempting to influence the course of justice in the hit-and-run case and had asked why the quantum of punishment for Anand, who was the defence lawyer in the BMW case, should not be enhanced.
The Delhi High Court had held Anand guilty along with another senior advocate I U Khan for obstructing administration of justice and, as a punishment, debarred them from appearing in courts for four months.
However, the apex court had set aside the conviction of Khan on the charge of contempt of court.
—–PTI—-