Film director Vivek Agnihotri once again made headlines when he slammed the Delhi High Court for alleged bias against Justice S Muralidhar, who granted bail to activist Gautam Navlakha, accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence case. tendered unconditional apology before the court. On Tuesday, Agnihotri apologised “unconditionally” before the Delhi High court. He submitted his apology through an affidavit.
As per a report by Hindustan Times, Vivek Agnihotri stated that he had deleted the tweet, which was the point of contention. However, the court has asked him to come in person and tender an apology. The bench remarked, “We are asking him (Agnihotri) to remain present because he is the contemnor. Does he have any difficulty if he has to express remorse in person? The remorse cannot always be expressed by way of an affidavit.”
A bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Talwant Singh adjourned the matter till March 16 after considering the affidavit. The Court said that since the matter was taken up suo motu by the Court, Vivek Agnihotri is directed to appear before the Court on the next date.
For the unversed, the court had initiated contempt proceedings against Vivek Agnihotri, writer Anand Ranganathan, and news portal Swarajya after taking note of remarks against Justice S Muralidhar, who is at present the Chief Justice of Orissa High Court. They had reacted by insinuating that the judge was biassed for his association with Mr Navlakha’s family after the court had quashed activist Gautam Navlakha’s house arrest order and transit remand.
