The Supreme Court placed a stay on the criminal contempt proceedings against Arundhati Roy. This stay was put on the proceedings by Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court.
In December 2015, the Bombay High Court issued a criminal contempt notice on Roy over an article she wrote in a magazine. This article was written over the arrest of Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba and the rejection of his bail plea earlier in 2015.
The HC stated Roy believed she was ‘above the law’ and to prove this false issued criminal contempt.
The Gadchiroli police arrested Saibaba in 2014 over his alleged links with the Naxals in the Maoist infected district of Gadchiroli. Roy, in her article, used terms as ‘nasty’ and other derogatory terms. The court said “Calling the government and police as being ‘afraid’ of the applicant, ‘abductor’ and ‘thief,’ and the magistrate from a ‘small town,’ demonstrate the surly, rude and boorish attitude of the author in a most tolerant country like India.”
