Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Manish Vashist

 

Charge:

Criminal Contempt

Sentence:

1 month

Years Imprisoned:

Year Crime:

2017

Year Convicted:

2017

Year Cleared:

2018

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

India

County or Region of Crime:

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

"Manish Vashisht was wrongly convivcted of contempt in 2017 in India. Vashisht was a court advocate and his prosecution was based on him making a Facebook post critical of Justice Inderjit Singh of the Punjab and Haryana High Court for delaying uploading an order in a case and that the written judgment was of poor quality. Justice Singh initiated suo moto contempt action against Vashisht and found him guilty. Vashisht appealed to the court of appeal, arguing the court could not be the prosecutor and the judge in its own cause. The appeals court affirmed Vashisht's conviction and one month jail sentence. The court said the High Court has the inherent power under Article 215 of the Constitution to exercise contempt jurisdiction to protect its dignity and authority: "The dignity and authority of the court has to be maintained not only by the general public but also by the advocates who constitute an important part of the system of administration of justice and are considered as officers of the Court." The court did suspend his sentence to enable him to appeal to the Supreme Court. On November 12, 2018 the Indian Supreme Court set aside Vashisht's conviction and sentence in a one-page order by a two-judge bench of Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice R. Subbash Reddy that stated: “We have gone through the matter in detail and are of the view that it was not a case where the contempt action should have been taken against the appellant who is an Advocate. We thus allow this appeal and set aside the impugned ordered passed by the High Court.”"

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

"On November 12, 2018 the Indian Supreme Court set aside Vashisht's conviction and sentence in a one-page order by a two-judge bench of Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice R. Subbash Reddy that stated: “We have gone through the matter in detail and are of the view that it was not a case where the contempt action should have been taken against the appellant who is an Advocate. We thus allow this appeal and set aside the impugned ordered passed by the High Court.”"

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Skin/Ethnicity:

Indian

Information Source 1:

"Advocate's Facebook Post Criticisint HC Judge Not Contempt, SC Held in 2018, by Livelaw News Network, livelaw.in, August 15, 2020"

Information Location 1:

https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/advocates-facebook-post-criticising-hc-judge-not-contempt-sc-held-in-2018-161472

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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org

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