Coming down heavily on the Maharashtra government, the apex court castigated it saying the state has huge amount to "waste on freebies" but does not have money to compensate to a private party which lost land to it "illegally".
A bench headed by the CJI took up the petitions and said, 'We will place this matter before a bench to which I (CJI) am not a part of because the comments (tweets) were made on the order, which I have passed.'
Attorney General K K Venugopal had granted consent for initiation of criminal contempt proceedings against Kamra, saying the tweets were in "bad taste".
The plea was filed a day after Attorney General K K Venugopal granted consent for initiation of criminal contempt proceedings against Kamra, saying the tweets are in bad taste and it is time that people understand that attacking the apex court brazenly will attract punishment under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1972.
Kamra in his reply had defended the alleged scandalous tweets against the judiciary, saying India would be reduced to a "country of incarcerated artists and flourishing lapdogs" if powerful people and institutions show inability to "tolerate rebuke or criticism".
The pleas came up for hearing before a bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan which heard the submissions of advocate Nishant R Katneshwarkar, who appeared for one of the petitioners and claimed that Kamra had posted several tweets scandalous to the judiciary.
The top court directed the Maharashtra government to place before it the material which was collected during the investigation against Navlakha and placed before the high court in a sealed cover.
'If this court believes I have crossed a line and wants to shut down my internet indefinitely, then I too will write Happy Independence Day post cards every 15th August, just like my Kashmiri friends'
The appeal filed through advocate Nishant R Katneshwarkar raised 20 grounds while assailing the high court order.