Lawyers, social activists, writers and intellectuals of the silk city joined a rally here on Monday expressing their solidarity with lawyer cum activist Prashant Bhusan who has been held guilty of contempt of court by a three-member bench of the Supreme Court on August 14.
Many local lawyers and intellectuals considered the Supreme Court’s judgment as criminal contempt.
The intellectuals here were of the opinion that thousands of important cases in the country are pending for hearing due restricted functioning of the SC in the name of Covid-19 pandemic depriving the citizens of timely relief. However, while that goes unnoticed, the SC has shown great seriousness on Bhusan's tweets and held him guilty of contempt of court, they told.
The judgment of the SC is contrary to the interests of democratic values and freedom of expression, said the intellectuals who organised the peaceful demonstration at Gopabandhu Square in Giri Road here.
The Britishers who legislated ‘contempt of court’ as a crime against the court have already scrapped the law in their own country since 2013, but in India the same provision is still in vogue which is quite unfortunate, some lamented.
Ganjam Bar Association president Bhagaban Sahu and former president Basanta Panda, CPI(M) leader Ali Kishore Pattnaik, Loka Shakti Abhiyan leader Prafulla Samantara, INTUC leader Pitabas Panda, Krantikari Krushak leader Shankar Sahu, MASM Convener Abani Gaya, CITU leader Judhisthira Behera, Jana Jagaran Abhizan chief Madhusudan Sethi, P Parbati of Odisha Nirman Sharmik Union, secretary of Ganjam Lawyer’s Assoiation Advocate Sudhansu Panda and former MLA Narayan Reddy were present.