The Bhushans fought for the freedom of the press when nobody else would.
It is odd for me to write this in defence of Prashant Bhushan, recently convicted of contempt of court and awaiting a sentence. In 2007, he was the one defending me against contempt of court. Had it not been for him and his father, Shanti Bhushan, who took up my case without charging me a single penny, me and my team at Mid Day would have served four months in jail for ‘lowering the dignity of the courts” by writing against corruption in judiciary.
I didn’t know Prashant Bhushan or Shanti Bhushan, except by reputation, before they chose to defend me and my colleagues in the contempt of court case filed against us by no less than the Delhi High court in 2007.
My team and I had written seven stories, uncovering corruption that linked former Chief Justice of India Y K Sabharwal’s sons with prominent mall builders. Each of the stories was backed by impeccable proof, taken from the government of India websites. That was truth out there, thumbing its nose at our democracy in the full belief that nobody would challenge it because it was sheltered by the contempt of court laws that afforded it full protection.
Instead of creating a wave of outrage, our stories appeared to have stunned everyone into silence. It was quite certain that the exposes would disappear into the cavernous underground of murky deals that prop up many in power. And then came the notice of contempt of court, served on us by the Delhi High Court on its own motion, charging me, as Resident Editor of MiD-Day, the then City Editor M k Tayal, Cartoonist Irfan and Printer and Publisher A K Akhtar, with lowering the dignity of the court. We had to stop our investigations which had taken us to Kolkatta and the hawala racket in the city.
https://photogallery.indiatimes.com/news/india/journalists-protest/articleshow/2393108.cms
While we struggled to respond to the high court notice, uncertain of the support we were likely to get from our own newspaper due to its limited financial resources, our court reporter Praveen Kumar brought in a message . “Ma’am, Prashant Bhushan says he and his father Shanti Bhushan will defend you. He has asked you to call him.”
I called Prashant and he said our case was very strong and that they would not charge us any fee. They would fight for us pro bono.
That was the first time anyone had validated our stories, had acknowledged that the documentary proofs we had been splashing on our front pages deserved an inquiry and that we, as journalists, had a right to tell the truth. That the freedom of the press, enshrined in the Indian Constitution, must be defended from contempt of court laws. That truth must be our defence.
The Bhushans espoused a cause that no body else was brave enough to pick up. Not only did they defend us in court, they brought together their vast network of civil rights activists in our support. The ‘chilling effect’ of contempt laws felt the heat of exposure through them and them alone.
We were asked to apologise to the court. We refused. How could we, when none of the stories we had done was untrue, or biased. it was pure investigative work, done with textbook precision. We would not apologise because we valued our profession as journalists, fearless in upholding the truth.
Despite the excellent defence put up by the Bhushans, supported by MiD Day’s legal counsel, the Delhi High Court sentenced us to four months’ imprisonment. The entire media fought for us, there were marches and seminars and also support from international organizations. Though we had been sentenced, we were not beaten, because it was now there for all to see how the archaic contempt of court laws were being used to suppress freedom of the press.
We got bail from the Supreme Court of India and the case languished for 11 years before being dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. The dismissal didn’t make me happy or provide any closure. We had proof of corruption and it was placed before the courts. Instead of leading to investigations and inquiries, our stories led to contempt of court. For 11 years, nobody could take up those stories because the case was sub-judice.
In the meantime, Justice Sabharwal died and us messengers had been shot for sure. I left India because I had nothing more to give to a system where justice is not a given, but a fight for existence.
The fight today is not for Prashant Bhushan. it is against contempt of court laws.
Time&Tide 