The Supreme Court on Monday closed contempt
proceedings against ex-IPL commissioner Lalit Modi after he tendered an
unconditional apology for his remarks against the judiciary in social media
posts.
A bench of Justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar took
note of an affidavit filed by Modi in which he stated that in future he will
not do anything which is inconsistent with the "majesty or dignity of
Courts or Indian judiciary" in any manner.
"We accept the unconditional apology. We remind
the respondent (Modi) that any such attempt on his part in future, which would
tantamount to remotely tarnishing the image of Indian judiciary and courts,
will be seen very seriously," it said.
"We accept the unconditional apology with a
broad heart because the Court always believes in forgiveness more particularly
when an apology is tendered unconditional and from the bottom of the
heart...Accepting the apology we close the present proceedings," the bench
said.
The court said, "Everybody should respect the
institution as a whole, that was our only concern".
On April 13, the top court had come down heavily on
Modi over his remarks against the judiciary and directed him to tender an
unconditional apology on social media platforms and national newspapers.
Observing that Modi is not above the law and the
institution, it had warned any repeat of such conduct will be viewed very
seriously.
The apex court had also directed him to file an
affidavit before it tendering an apology and stating no such posts will be made
in future which would tantamount, even remotely, to tarnishing the image of the
Indian judiciary.