Contempt Of Court: Kerala HC Directs Contemnor To Publish Apology Video On YouTube Over Allegations Against Judges

The Kerala High Court recently directed KM Shajahan, the former private secretary of the ex-Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan, to release an apology video on his YouTube channel for having committed contempt of court due to his objectionable remarks against the High Court judges.

A division bench of Justice PB Suresh Kumar and Justice CS Sudha passed the order after Shajahan expressed his willingness to submit an unconditional apology, despite his affidavit denying any act of contempt of court.

“He shall stream a video on the very same YouTube channel expressing regret for having streamed the objectionable video, after admitting that he has committed contempt, in tune with the provision contained in Rule 14(a) of the Rules,” the order reads.

Shajahan had live-streamed a video on his YouTube channel, where he made objectionable comments against the judges of the High Court.

On June 5, the Court permitted Shajahan to submit an unconditional apology and scheduled the case for a hearing on June 6. However, Shajahan did not appear on June 6, leading to the adjournment of the matter until June 8. During the hearing on June 8, the Court reviewed Shajahan’s affidavit and observed that it lacked an unconditional apology.

“In the affidavit, he does not admit that he has committed contempt of court. Instead, what is stated by him in the affidavit is that this Court has informed him that his conduct would amount to contempt of court and that he has also admitted before this Court that he has exceeded the bench mark limit of fair criticism in his video at two places and attempted to justify his conduct in streaming the video pointing out that the same was intended to expose a patently erroneous judicial order,” the bench stated.

Due to non-compliance with Rule 14(a) of the Contempt of Courts (High Court of Kerala) Rules, the Court informed Shajahan that his submitted affidavit does not meet the requirements.

Despite this, Shajahan expressed his willingness to file an unconditional apology and express regret for the imputations made against the judges. He also proposed streaming a video on his YouTube channel, withdrawing the allegations and expressing regret for the objectionable video.

In response, the Court directed him to follow through with these actions and scheduled the case for further consideration on 15^th June, 2023.

“He shall also furnish, before the next posting date, the particulars of the link of the video agreed to be streamed in his YouTube channel together with a copy of the same in an electronic device,” the bench ordered.