‘PIL Activist’ Prashant Bhushan on Friday was accused of plagiarising a tweet shared by another individual on the social media platform. He made minor changes and shared the tweet with a question as to challenge the courts of India. The content tweet referred to the judgement that debarred former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from holding elected posts.
Prashant Bhushan said in his tweet that in 1975, Jagmohanlal Sinha of the Allahabad High Court had set aside Indira Gandhi’s victory in 1971 for electoral malpractices and debarred her from holding any elected position. He went on to ask if any Court could do such a thing today, insinuating his personal wishes that he wants the courts to sack the Narendra Modi government.
As it so happens, the tweet was almost an exact replica of one made by Joy Bhattacharjya with minor changes. For instance, Bhattacharjya did not pose any question that would imply that the independence of the Judiciary had been quashed and instead of Bhushan’s ‘history’, he had said ‘modern Indian history’.
The original tweet
Joy Bhattacharjya took the plagiarism sportingly and did not react harshly as many people do when their content is stolen on the social media platform without due credit. Bhattacharjya’s tweet was posted at 8.57 a.m. and Prashant Bhushan posted his at 10.21 a.m.
45 minutes after my tweet. The language is almost exactly the same. I’ll take it as a compliment. Thanks @npojha! https://t.co/6Vh81hiN1R
— Joy Bhattacharjya (@joybhattacharj) June 12, 2020
The past antics of Prashant Bhushan
Prashant Bhushan has not been faring well for quite some time. His sway does not hold over the courts anymore, as a consequence of which he is seeking to undermine their authority. Recently, the Supreme Court refused to entertain a PIL he filed and asked him whether they should dismiss his petition or would he be willing to withdraw it on his own.
The notorious ‘PIL Activist’ also called the Delhi Police ‘Dalla Police‘ for arresting an activist associated with far-left group Pinjra Tod for her alleged involvement in the anti-CAA riots at the national capital. Over the last few years, Bhushan has been displaying that his only aim is to malign the BJP government, even if it means contradicting himself.
