New Delhi: Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has denied the sanction to move the contempt of court petition against a few people regarding their comments over the Supreme Court verdict on the entry of young women to the Ayyappa Temple in Sabarimala.
Mehta decided that the statements issued by BJP’s Kerala unit president P S Sreedharan Pillai, Sabarimala tantri (chief priest) Kandararu Rajeevaru and others opposing the apex court verdict only amounted to constructive criticism. Moreover, contempt of court petitions cannot be allowed based on news reports, said Mehta.
According to rules, the nod of the Attorney General or Solicitor General is required to move a contempt of court plea before the Supreme Court.
The request for moving the petition against those who had obstructed the implementation of the verdict at Sabarimala was placed before the Attorney General K K Venugopal by Dr T Geena Kumari and A V Varsha. However, the Attorney General entrusted the task of taking a decision on the matter to the Solicitor General. This was because Venugopal too had opposed the Supreme Court’s majority judgment and welcomed the minority ruling of Justice Indu Malhotra.
Kumari and Varsha had moved separate pleas seeking action against Pillai, actor Kollam Thulasi, Congress leader Rajmohan Unnithan, Kandararu Rajeevaru and P Ramavarma Raja for contempt of court over their comments on the Sabarimala verdict.
With the Solicitor General rejecting their application, the petitioners can now directly approach the Supreme Court.
