The Attorney General KK Venugopal on Friday granted consent to activist Shachi Nelli to initiate contempt proceedings against the Haridwar Dharam Sansad organizer Yati Narsinghanand over his derogatory remarks against Constitution and the Supreme Court.
The AG has granted consent after finding that Narsinghanand’s statement was a direct attempt to lower the authority of the Supreme Court in the minds of the general public.
The consent has been granted in response to a letter by an activist Shachi Nelli seeking to initiate contempt against Yati Narsinghanand for his statements in an interview that went viral on Twitter on January 14.
Narsinghanand’s statements were made in response to questions posed about the Court proceedings in the Haridwar hate speech case.
The letter moved before the Attorney General provided the entire quote of statements made by Yati Narsinghanand and also provided details on where the clip can be found.
As per Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act, the consent of Attorney General is required before the Supreme Court can hear a criminal contempt of court petition filed by a private individual.
As per the letter, Narsinghanand’s statements undermined the majesty of the institution and was an attempt at interfering in the course of justice by means of abusive, rhetoric and baseless attacks on the integrity of the Constitution and Courts.