The Delhi High Court has sentenced YouTuber Gulshan Pahuja to six months of imprisonment and ₹2,000 as fine for committing criminal contempt of court by making scandalous comments about the judiciary in his videos and in arguments before the Court [Court On Its Own Motion Vs Shiv Narayan Sharma Adv and Ors].
The Court noted that he had drew comparisons between the judiciary and a dictatorship by stating in his arguments that he expects no justice from the Indian judicial system and alleging that ‘adaalaton ki manmarzi badhti jaa rahi hai aur main koi nyay ki umeed nahi kar raha’ (the arbitrary actions of the courts are increasing and I am not expecting any justice) and ‘manmarzi ka dusra arth taanashahi hota hai’ (the synonym for arbitrariness is dictatorship).
In the order passed on May 16, the Division Bench of Justice Navin Chawla and Justice Ravinder Dudeja imposed the maximum sentence of six months imprisonment for the offence, stating that a lesser punishment would embolden him further.
"We also find that by not imposing adequate punishment on him, we may encourage him to repeat these acts in future and to embolden him in doing the same," the Court said.
Earlier, the Court had found him guilty of contempt of court and had subsequently heard him on the sentencing.
The controversial videos were uploaded by Gulshan Pahuja on his YouTube channel “Fight 4 Judicial Reforms."
In the videos, Pahuja was seen taking interviews of advocates named Shiv Narayan Sharma and Deepak Singh. It was alleged that, during the interview, the advocates made certain derogatory remarks against judges and courts.
Three judicial officers flagged such videos and banners in a reference made to the Delhi High Court seeking the initiation of contempt of court proceedings.
The lawyers concerned, advocates Shiv Narayan Sharma and Deepak Singh, gave unconditional apologies. They said that they had not consented to their interviews being uploaded online and were not aware of the objectionable thumbnails or banners posted along with the videos.
The High Court found their apologies to be genuine and dropped the contempt proceedings against them.
However, Gulshan Pahuja continued to justify his comments, describing them as part of public interest advocacy for judicial reforms and a campaign for audio-video recordings of court proceedings.
In a judgment delivered on April 21, the Court found him guilty of contempt of court.
It then held a separate hearing on the sentence to be imposed on him.
During the course of the hearing on sentence, Pahuja again made scandalous remarks. He stated that that he does not expect justice from the Indian judicial system.
Pahuja stated ‘adaalaton ki manmarzi badhti jaa rahi hai aur main koi nyay ki umeed nahi kar raha’ (the arbitrary actions of the courts are increasing and I am not expecting any justice).
He further drew comparisons between courts and dictators by stating ‘manmarzi ka dusra arth taanashahi hota hai’ (the synonym for arbitrariness is dictatorship).
He also took exception to the manner in which the contempt proceedings were conducted, stating that judicial files relating to the videos uploaded by him were not summoned, the judicial officers named in the videos were not examined as witnesses and that he was denied an opportunity to cross-examine them.
The Court observed that Pahuja did not show any remorse for his conduct and continued reiterating scandalous remarks against the judicial system.
"The contemnor shows no regret for the same. He also does not suggest any course correction. In fact, he maintains that what he did was with the intent of improving the judicial system. As noted by us in this order hereinabove, he, in fact, compounds his contempt by making further scandalous submissions before this Court and thus, evidently he is neither repentant nor deserves any mercy," the Court said.
Thus, the Court imposed the maximum sentence of six months' imprisonment for criminal contempt of court.
However, the sentence has been kept at abeyance for sixty days in order to allow Pahuja to file an appeal before the Supreme Court.
Advocate Harsh Prabhakar assisted the Court as Amicus Curiae along with advocates Dhruv Chaudhry, Shubham Sourav and Vijit Singh.
Advocates Vivek Kumar Tandon and Laxmi Gupta appeared for the Delhi High Court Legal Services Committee.
Senior Advocates Sacchin Puri and Sanjeev Sagar with advocates Mehak Ghaloth, Abhishek Singh, Anil Dhyani, Ashna Bhola and Vidushi Srivastava appeared for advocates Shiv Sharma and Deepak Singh.
Gulshan Pahuja appeared in person.
Public Prosecutor Aman Usman with advocate Manvendra Yadav appeared for the State.
