Articles
- 129: SC shall be Court of Record & pwr of such a court incl the pwr to punish for contempt of itself.
- 215: same, but for HC
- phrase court of record is used in Constitution
Why?
- prevent unfair criticism
- prevent erosion of judicial legitimacy
- safeguard public respect (Indians have high views of judiciary)
Safe when
- fair criticism
- innocent publication / distribution
- if court convinced that expression truthful, public interest
Criticism
- judiciary accused of misusing
- to protect rep of individual judges
- if ppl can criticize legis/exec, then why not judiciary?
- pwr often used against influential folks
- Prashant Bhushan
- Kunal Kamra
- Colonial system
- Violative of principles of natural justice