The dichotomy between the cases of Prashant Bhushan and Justice C S Karnan: a thread

Both advocate Bhushan and HC Judge Karnan were charged with the same Contempt of Courts Act. Justice Karnan received the maximum sentence in jail of 6 months, and served the entire jail sentence. Prashant Bhushan is still yet to receive any punishment for his statements

Justice Karnan didn't make any public comments against any judge. He sent his complaint to the PM's Office in a sealed envelope where he disclosed the names of 20 judges he alleged were corrupt. Bhushan on the other hand made a public tweet mocking the CJI sitting on a bike

Justice Karnan was the first sitting HC judge to be arrested. He was given the maximum sentence by the SC without even initiating the proceeding for his impeachment. He made multiple pleas & appeals for pardon to Supreme Court, Parliament & President. They were all turned down

Bhushan, however, was given 2-3 days to think about changing his statement by the Supreme Court. Bhushan refused. The SC again said they would allow him some time to reconsider his decision. This time, Bhushan agreed to think about changing his statement in the time given to him

Immediately after sentencing Justice Karnan to jail for 6 months, the Supreme Court issued a gag order which made it a crime for the media to publish any of Karnan's statements. He was never given a chance to present his side of things. He was arrested and conveniently silenced

Justice Karnan wished to speak about his case in public but he was shut down by all major media houses who supported the decision of the SC. He even wrote an open letter saying that he is a victim of caste discrimination being a Dalit judge in a majority Upper Caste judiciary

Bhushan, on the contrary, has received support from people around the country. Sitting and retired MPs, judges, journalists, writers, etc have all come together to hail Bhushan as a hero, martyr and the saviour of judiciary. The same people did not say a single word about Karnan

Karnan not only spoke about corruption but also about the UC hegemony in judiciary, atrocities against Dalits, sexual assault by judges, etc. He was therefore seen as a thorn in the side. Therefore he was quickly put away without ever getting an opportunity to speak for himself

While Karnan was portrayed as a guilty villain, no action has been initiated against Bhushan till now. He is free to make any statements he wishes. He has even been given extra time to reconsider his decision. The media hails him as a voice of dissent and protector of free speech

It is no surprise that Bhushan had once supported the witch-hunt of Justice Karnan. While Justice Karnan's Dalit identity led to his removal as HC Judge and got him arrested, Bhushan's caste privilege and social capital will enable him to overcome this case scot-free.