Kolkata: Finding Trinamool MLA Kunal Ghosh’s apology “not real or genuine and undeserving of acceptance”, the Calcutta High Court on Monday imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on him in a criminal contempt case for making statements against a former HC judge. Observing that “the slap and say sorry practice cannot be countenanced”, a special three-judge bench, however, refrained from imposing a harsher punishment.The special bench of Justice Arijit Banerjee, Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj, in its 76-page verdict, held, “An apology which deserves to be accepted must be unconditional, sincere and genuine. It must convey a feeling of regret, repentance and contrition. It must not be a pretended apology. The Hon’ble Supreme Court has held, as discussed herein before, it is one thing to say sorry and another, to feel sorry.”The contempt proceedings arose from an incident on April 28, 2025, when a crowd gathered outside the lawyers’ chambers near HC, blocked public roads and raised slogans against a sitting judge over proceedings related to the teachers’ recruitment case.The proceedings involved two sets of alleged contemnors — seven job aspirants whose appointments were affected by the litigation, and Ghosh for making media statements against the judge.Refusing to accept the apologies of the seven job aspirants, the bench observed that they were “educated” individuals who understood the consequences of their actions. “They were trying, in effect, to browbeat an hon’ble judge of this court. They are not illiterate people or from a rustic background who did not know what they are entitled to do in law and what law prohibits them from doing,” the court said. Taking a lenient view in light of their “frustration”, it imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on each of them.
