New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Monday slammed a penalty of Rs 1 on lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan, who was held guilty of contempt for his tweets criticising Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and the Supreme Court.

If he doesn’t pay the fine by September 15, he can go to jail for three months or be banned from practicing for three years.

The punishment was announced by a SC bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra, who is set to retire on September 2.

On August 14, Bhushan was held guilty of criminal contempt for his two derogatory tweets against the top court and on August 25, senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan had requested the SC to show “judicial statesmanship” and not make Bhushan a “martyr” by punishing him.

It is to be noted that Bhushan has repeatedly rejected calls from the SC to issue an apology for his contemptous tweets, on the grounds that an insincere apology would amount to contempt of his conscience and of an institution which he had always respected.

On August 20 the SC had granted time till Monday to Bhushan to reconsider his “defiant statement” and tender “unconditional apology” for the contemptuous tweets.

On August 24, Bhushan had filed a supplementary reply before the SC mentioning that he believes that SC is the last bastion of hope for protection of fundamental rights.

In one of the tweets, Prashant Bhushan had said four previous Chief Justices of India played a role in destroying democracy in India in the last six years.

Another tweet commenting on a photo of Chief Justice Bobde on a Harley Davidson last month, had flagged that he was without a helmet and face mask while keeping the court in lockdown and denying citizens their right to justice.