Delhi HC jails YouTuber for 6 months over ‘dictatorship’ remarks against judiciary
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Delhi HC jails YouTuber for 6 months over ‘dictatorship’ remarks against judiciary")
Delhi HC jails YouTuber for 6 months over ‘taanashahi’ remarks against judiciary Photograph: (Credit: Pexels/Representative image)
The Delhi High Court has sentenced YouTuber Gulshan Pahuja to 6 months in jail for criminal contempt after he refused to apologise for calling courts a 'dictatorship'.
A Division Bench of Justice Navin Chawla and Justice Ravinder Dudeja passed the order on May 16, imposing the maximum sentence for the offence, stating that a lesser punishment would embolden him further. The court also imposed a fine of ₹2,000 in each contempt matter, with both sentences directed to run concurrently. The case stemmed from inflammatory remarks Pahuja made both on his YouTube channel and during court proceedings. The court noted that he drew comparisons between the judiciary and a dictatorship, stating that he expected no justice from the Indian judicial system and alleging that "adaalaton ki manmarzi badhti jaa rahi hai aur main koi nyay ki umeed nahi kar raha" (the arbitrary actions of the courts are increasing and I am not expecting any justice) and "manmarzi ka dusra arth taanashahi hota hai" (the synonym for arbitrariness is dictatorship) as quoted in the website Bar and Bench.
The contempt proceedings arose from videos uploaded by Pahuja allegedly containing allegations against judicial officers in the matters titled Court on its Own Motion v. Shiv Narayan Sharma & Ors'. During the sentencing hearing, Pahuja attempted to contest the earlier conviction. He argued that the proceedings suffered from procedural irregularities, claiming he had not been fully heard; that the concerned judicial officers were neither summoned nor produced for cross-examination; and alleging violations of Articles 14, 20(3), and 21 of the Constitution. The Court refused to revisit the conviction order, observing that the contemnor was free to challenge it in accordance with law.
The court found that instead of demonstrating regret, Pahuja continued repeating scandalous allegations against the judiciary even during court proceedings. The bench noted that he was "neither repentant nor deserves any mercy."
Since Pahuja expressed his intention to approach the Supreme Court, the High Court suspended the sentence for 60 days under Section 19(3) of the Contempt of Courts Act. The bench directed that in the absence of any protective order from the apex court, he would have to surrender before the Registrar General after the expiry of that period.
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