India: Contempt Conviction Threatens Free Speech

Click to expand Image Indian lawyer and social activist Prashant Bhushan talks to the media outside the Supreme Court, New Delhi, India, February 2, 2012. © 2012 AP Photo (New York) – The Indian Supreme Court’s conviction of a prominent lawyer for criminal contempt of court can have a chilling effect on legitimate criticism, including of the country’s judiciary, Human Rights Watch said today. On August 14, 2020, the Supreme Court found Prashant Bhushan guilty under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, for two social media posts in June that it said had “the effect of destabilising the very…

© Human Rights Watch - mercredi 19 août 2020