Lawfare, Contempt of Court – Journalists

When editor of The Shillong Times, Patricia Mukhim, on Thursday, 13 December, appeared before Justice SR Sen who had sent a contempt notice to the leading daily in Meghalaya for publishing an article about a court order seeking perks and facilities for retired judges and their families, she was asked, “What is your qualification, ma’am, to write about judges?”

In her article titled ‘When judges judge for themselves’, published earlier this week, Mukhim alleged that Justice Sen, who is retiring in March, wanted several provisions for retired chief justices and judges and their spouses and children from the state government, including guest houses, domestic help, mobile and internet expenses.

Both Mukhim and Chaudhuri were issued a show cause notice by Justice Sen on Wednesday, 12 December, seeking explanation as to why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against the newspaper for publishing the article.