Contempt petition against Tamil magazine closed

Closing the contempt plea relating to the publication in 2018, a division bench comprising Justice PN Prakash and Justice V Sivagnanam said the apology has shown that the answers to the 20 questions were given by some teachers, which the magazine published.

“That apart, the teachers who gave the answers were placed under suspension and later, the apology given by them appears to have been graciously accepted by the judge himself, pursuant to which their suspension was also revoked,” the bench noted, adding that a perusal of the issues of March, April and May 2020 of “Desathin Nambikkai” magazine showed that profuse apologies have been published by the alleged contemnors.

“Therefore, we accept the apologies and close this contempt petition with the following sapient passage from the judgment of the Supreme Court: The dignity of the ocean lies not in its fury capable of causing destruction, but in its vast expanse and depth with enormous tolerance,” the bench led by Justice Prakash added.

After obtaining permission from the Advocate General, the All India Private Schools Legal Protection Society, represented by its chairman I Manoharan Jeyakumar, had moved the contempt plea alleging that the answers published were highly contemptuous of the court and sought action against its editor H Batcha and special editor KR Nandakumar.