Supreme Court Closes Contempt Proceedings Against Editor-in-Chief Of Varprad Media Ajay Shukla Following Apology
The bench noted that he must remain cautious, and any recurrence of such behaviour would result in consequences.
Justice Dipankar Datta, Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, Supreme Court
The Supreme Court closed the suo motu contempt proceedings against Ajay Shukla, a Chandigarh-based YouTuber and Editor-in-Chief of Varprad Media, after he tendered an apology.
The contempt was initiated due to "scandalous, contemptuous, and defamatory" remarks Shukla made against a former judge of the Supreme Court on his digital platform.
The bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma decided to dispose of the matter after Shukla tendered an unconditional apology.
The bench cautioned Shukla to be extremely vigilant in the future, warning that any recurrence of such conduct would result in "severe consequences."
The Supreme Court had initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against Chandigarh-based journalist and YouTuber Ajay Shukla for his alleged 'scandalous', defamatory, and contemptuous remarks against some Supreme Court Judges in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel.
The Court had said, "Mr. Ajay Shukla in the said video clip has made vile and scandalous observations about one of the Senior Judges of this Court...The said scandalous, defamatory and contemptuous allegations widely published on YouTube, are likely to bring disrepute to the august institution of the Judiciary...No doubt that the Constitution of India guarantees right to freedom of speech and expression, however, at the same time such right is subject to reasonable restrictions...A person cannot be permitted to make allegations which are in the nature of defaming a Judge of this Court or any other Court and also which are contemptous in nature, that attempts to bring disrepute to the institution of Judiciary."
The Court had issued a notice to Shukla, the Editor-in-Chief of Varprad Media. The Court had directed that the offending video be immediately taken down and restrained the channel from republishing it or similar content.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta described the remarks as “very serious” and expressed his gratitude to the Bench for taking up suo motu cognizance of the issue.
Cause Title: In Re Scandalous Remarks Made by Ajay Shukla, Editor-in-Chief Varprad Media Pvt. Ltd., A Digital Channel [SMC(Crl) No. 1/2025]