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The Supreme Court on Wednesday convicted Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy on charges of contempt of court and sentenced her to one day's 'symbolic imprisonment' and fined her Rs 2000.
The bench comprising Justice G B Pattanaik and Justice R P Sethi said Arundhati Roy "is found to have committed criminal contempt of court by scandalising it and lowering its dignity through her statements made in her affidavit."
In the event of non-payment of the fine, Arundhati Roy will have to undergo an imprisonment of three months.
The court gave the order after issuing suo motu contempt notice to Roy taking exception to an affidavit filed by her in reply to a petition seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against her for raising slogans against the Supreme Court during a demonstration in December 2000.
The demonstration was connected to the Narmada dam project.
Roy, while being taken to Tihar jail, said the judgement proved what she had said in her affidavit before the court.
She said she stood by her statements and was prepared to suffer the consequences. "The quality of this judgement will be assessed by the people of this country. The message is clear. Any citizen who dares to criticise the court does so at his or her own peril," she said.
The writer's lawyer, Prashant Bhushan, meanwhile, said Roy would file a fresh petition against the court's decision soon.
When asked if she would pay the fine imposed on her by the court, Bhushan said: "That's a personal decision...by tomorrow we would know what she has decided."
PTI
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