New Delhi [India], September 12 (ANI): Senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Saturday filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking directions for an appeal against conviction in criminal contempt cases to be heard by a larger and a different bench.

Bhushan, in his petition filed through lawyer Kamini Jaiswal, said that the right of appeal is a fundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution of India and is also guaranteed under international laws.

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"This would act as a vital safeguard against wrongful conviction and would truly enable the provision of truth as a defense," Bhushan said in his plea.

The development comes even as the Supreme Court is hearing a contempt of court case against Bhushan for his interview to a magazine in 2009 in which he was quoted as saying that half of the 16 former Chief Justices of India (CJIs) were corrupt.

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Earlier, Bhushan was also convicted and a fine of Re 1 was imposed on him by the top court in connection with a suo motu criminal contempt of court case over two of his tweets.

One of the tweets, posted on June 29, was related to his post on a picture of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad Arvind Bobde on a high-end bike. In his second tweet, Bhushan had expressed his opinion on the role of the last four CJIs amid the state of affairs in the country. (ANI)

(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)