The Supreme Court has dropped contempt proceedings against Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari for breaking the lock of a building that had been sealed by Delhi’s civic body in September. The court, however, pulled Tiwari up for his “misplaced bravado”.

The bench of Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta called Tiwari a “rebel without a cause” and said it was “shocking” that he had violated the Supreme Court’s orders to pacify a mob. “We are pained by the conduct of Manoj Tiwari … He is an elected representative and should have acted responsibly.”

Tiwari was then let off with a warning.

According to NDTV, in September, “A complaint was filed by the civic body against the parliamentarian from northweast Delhi constituency for breaking the seal of the building in Gokalpuri area in northeast Delhi. A Supreme Court-mandated panel on sealing then petitioned the top court for contempt action against Mr Tiwari. The building was sealed on the orders of the top court.” However, Tiwari did not apologise, and his lawyer claimed his actions were to “prevent any untoward incident” from occurring because of the crowd.